| Each year, thousands of sole proprietors | | | | together a marketing plan and go ahead with a |
| double the size of their businesses by hiring | | | | much-needed website upgrade. |
| their first employee. But how do you know | | | | |
| when--and whom--to hire? For nearly two | | | | Since the hire, business has increased |
| years, Carrie Wong did it all herself. As the | | | | fivefold and the company expects to break $1 |
| founder and sole employee of Practical | | | | million in 2004. Ballus, he says, "made up |
| Gourmet, an Aurora, Oreg., bakery that | | | | for the weaknesses I had, and I went back to |
| supplies high-end desserts to restaurants | | | | figuring out how to expand the business. With |
| without their own pastry chefs, Wong baked | | | | all the competition out there, we had to |
| tiramisu and berry tortes in the kitchen, | | | | really be focused on how to get customers." |
| made deliveries in her Subaru wagon, and | | | | Byrne avoided a common mistake of |
| still found time to pitch her creations to | | | | entrepreneurs: waiting too long to make a |
| ever more restaurants. | | | | hire. Consumed with staying afloat, many solo |
| | | | business owners miss opportunities to make |
| But soon, local newspapers got a taste of her | | | | needed innovations to stay in the game, says |
| fancy desserts. Glowing articles appeared and | | | | Kelley. By the time they get around to |
| business took off. By early 2003, Wong--a | | | | hiring, it's too late. "Their competitors |
| former marketing exec who founded her company | | | | have already made them obsolete," she says. |
| after losing her corporate job in 2001--was | | | | |
| working 90-hour weeks and barely keeping up | | | | That's not the only thing dangerous about |
| with demand. She no longer had time to do | | | | putting off the decision. Wait too long, and |
| what she did best: marketing the business. "I | | | | you could be forced to hire in a hurry, |
| got to the point where I said, 'This is | | | | increasing the risk of ending up with the |
| insane,'" she says. "I had to stop taking on | | | | wrong person. That's exactly what happened to |
| any more clients or just go for it." In | | | | Loree Taylor Jordan, founder of LTJ |
| Wong's case, going for it meant hiring her | | | | Associates, a communications firm in |
| first employee. It's a necessary step for any | | | | Campbell, Calif. |
| maxed-out entrepreneur seeking to expand a | | | | |
| one-person operation--but it's a scary move, | | | | Massively behind in her clerical work, Jordan |
| fraught with all manner of anxieties. How do | | | | needed help but had no time to interview a |
| you decide whom to hire? What happens if | | | | slew of applicants. So she hired a friend as |
| business flags? "My biggest concern," says | | | | a personal assistant. |
| Wong, "was, will the person I hire care as | | | | |
| much about the business as I do?" Despite | | | | Unfortunately, her new employee was less than |
| such questions, each year an estimated | | | | conscientious, breezing into the office |
| 550,000 business owners become employers for | | | | whenever she pleased and often failing to |
| the first time, according to government | | | | complete important tasks. |
| economists--taking one of the most difficult | | | | |
| and important steps in their careers as | | | | After seven months, Jordan finally let her |
| entrepreneurs. "Whether your business moves | | | | go. But she learned from her mistake. |
| ahead or not is really determined by the | | | | |
| people you hire," says Jana Matthews, an | | | | When searching for a replacement, she |
| entrepreneurship expert at Boulder Quantum | | | | interviewed multiple candidates. When she |
| Ventures, a consulting firm in Boulder, Colo. | | | | found one she liked, Jordan brought her in on |
| "Unfortunately, people often mess it up, | | | | a trial basis before pulling the trigger on |
| big-time." That doesn't have to be the case. | | | | the decision. "I wanted to be sure it was a |
| While determining whether--and whom--to hire | | | | good fit," Jordan says. |
| will always be more art than science, there | | | | |
| are several telltale signs that can help you | | | | You can reduce the risk of hiring a dud by |
| decide when to turn two hands into four. Some | | | | bringing someone on as a consultant or |
| of these signs are easy enough to spot. Like | | | | contractor first, says Cleveland biotech |
| Wong, you may feel there are not enough hours | | | | entrepreneur Andy Lefkowitz. "That way you |
| in the day to concentrate on the tasks you're | | | | can see how you work together before making a |
| best at. | | | | bigger commitment," he says. "If things go |
| | | | downhill with an employee, it's harder to go |
| Perhaps you've missed an important call or | | | | your separate ways." Of course, any |
| failed to ship a product because you're | | | | first-time employer would like to get it |
| overwhelmed by other tasks. "It may be time | | | | right the first time. |
| to hire when things are slipping," says Donna | | | | |
| Kelley, assistant professor of | | | | Donna Kelley counsels that the first priority |
| entrepreneurship at Babson College in Babson | | | | often should be not a particular skill--most |
| Park, Mass. "Or when you feel you don't have | | | | employees, after all, can be trained--but |
| control over the business like you did when | | | | rather, an appropriate point of view. "Do |
| it was smaller." Make a list of the skills | | | | they have a passion for the business that |
| you need to run your company effectively, | | | | you're in?" Kelley says. "Do they feel they |
| Kelley advises. Then list the things you're | | | | must respond to customers right away? Do they |
| best at. If there are big gaps between the | | | | have the energy for the ups and downs of any |
| two, it's probably time to add some | | | | small business?" As for Carrie Wong, last |
| brainpower. | | | | November she found someone who shares her |
| | | | passion. She met Todd Wieweck, who worked as |
| The kind of brainpower you add depends on | | | | a pastry chef at the tony Phoenician resort |
| whether you want to grow slowly or shift into | | | | in Scottsdale, Ariz., at a charity event |
| a higher gear. If you're taking it slow, you | | | | sponsored by local chefs. She talked to other |
| might just want someone to relieve some of | | | | candidates, but Wieweck remained at the top |
| the pressure by performing the routine | | | | of her list. "This is the beginning of |
| administrative tasks that pile up, such as | | | | something big," says Wieweck, who joined |
| answering phones and opening mail. Picking up | | | | Practical Gourmet late last year. Now, Wong |
| the pace, however, usually involves finding | | | | can focus on sales and marketing while her |
| someone who has specialized expertise or who | | | | new hire can run the kitchen. If it works |
| complements your skills. | | | | out, Wieweck will share in profits after two |
| | | | years. "It's important he's rewarded beyond |
| I don't have to be the smartest person in the | | | | the standard paycheck," Wong says. |
| world to succeed. I just need to be smart | | | | |
| enough to hire the right people to help me do | | | | To make sure her recipes never leave the |
| it." That was the kind of soul-searching | | | | company, she had Wieweck sign nondisclosure |
| David Byrne went through six years ago. | | | | and noncompete agreements--a wise idea for |
| | | | any entrepreneur whose business is built on |
| Byrne quit his corporate sales and marketing | | | | proprietary information. |
| job to found BatteriesDirect.com, which sells | | | | |
| batteries for laptops and cordless phones | | | | Now Wong is ready to get back to whipping up |
| over the Internet. Revenue at the Palo Alto, | | | | more business. After moving to a new |
| Calif., company had increased from zip to | | | | 3,000-square-foot baking facility (she lives |
| $200,000 in just two years, and he was having | | | | above the place), she's preparing to open an |
| trouble keeping pace. New competitors were | | | | adjacent retail outlet. At the same time, she |
| emerging, and Byrne lacked the finance | | | | plans to crank up sales of a line of gourmet |
| know-how to wrangle better payment terms from | | | | chocolates she's launched. And she's looking |
| vendors and figure out the most competitive | | | | to add more area restaurants as customers for |
| pricing strategy. | | | | her desserts. By the end of this year, she |
| | | | expects to hire again--perhaps as many as |
| So Byrne hired his first employee--Pamela | | | | four more employees. "I don't have to be the |
| Ballus, a former colleague and finance whiz. | | | | smartest person in the world to expand this |
| To make the hire, Byrne was forced to take a | | | | business," Wong says. "I just need to be |
| 25% pay cut, as well as give his new employee | | | | smart enough to hire the right people to help |
| equity in the company. But he believes it was | | | | me do it." |
| well worth it. At last, he had time to put | | | | |