Looking For An Apprentice?
Or just a good employee? Here are some places to look.
If only you could clone yourself, right?You would have twice as many clients and the capacity to bill for countless hours.But there’s still a way for you to expand your business without enlisting mad-scientist help: you can hire a part-time or full-time employee.
There comes a time in every small business where the owner decides whether or not to expand and hire employees to help them accomplish more; you can assign simple and tedious tasks to a trainee while leaving the more difficult tasks to yourself. While you’re still paying this employee, it is less than what you charge, enabling you to increase your clientele and your bottom line. But in order to make a profit you’ll need to hire someone who needs a little training; you couldn’t afford to hire another you! So where do you look for a potential apprentice? Here are 5 places you might find the perfect employee.
1. Your Children Maybe your children don’t even mow the lawn when you ask them to, but money is an amazing motivator. Let’s say you charge $40 an hour, and you hire your teenage at $10 an hour. That’s a great deal for your child who would earn minimum wage at the nearest fast-food restaurant; and you would still be making $30 an hour for ever hour your child works doing basic accounting tasks. You’re teaching your children valuable skills, providing them with great experience, and expanding your business all at the same time. And there are some tax benefits for keeping this business in the family as well!
2. Referrals from Family and Friends This could be a little tricky; the last thing you need is a guilt trip to hire unemployed Cousin JoeBob. So have a game plan when you approach family and friends for referrals; be clear in the type of individual you’re looking for.You’re willing to train, but are unwilling to hire someone and all their baggage as a favor.
3. College Campuses and Internships If you live by a technical school, community college or university you have a great pool of students to hire from. You need to remember that you’re providing individuals with a great opportunity to learn new skills and gain the experience they need to advance in a profession. Contact their academic accounting departments for their requirements for interneships and to see if they could post the position for you; if you talk to the right person you just might find them referring a few of their top students your way.
4. Temporary and Permanent Employment Agencies A temp agency provides a good opportunity to find someone with specific skills to work on a trial basis. There’s no obligation to hire the individual permanently, so you can test-drive their performance in order to see if the individual is a good match. The only down-side is that if you choose to hire someone from a temp agency, you’ll have to pay the agency a fee.
You’ll also have to pay a fee if you hire someone from a permanent employment agency. The nice thing about this route is the agency can do the screening for you, enabling you to meet only the best applicants whose references have already been checked.
5. Want Ads (the good, old fashioned way) Or you could post an ad in the paper or online.Be sure to ask for resumes and references so that you can screen all applicants before you begin interviewing.
At any point in this process it’s important to remember that you want to find the best applicants you can so that you won’t have to go through it again anytime soon. And remember that while you may have to train your employee upfront, if you find the right person he/she will save you lots of time and money in the end.
Get the training that makes the difference, enroll in The Professional Bookkeeper’s Course. Don’t delay!
