Starting a business is difficult. There is a stress on time, money, and your personal life. Many times, the need for employees is hindered by the perceived unavailability of workers. Small businesses may find it difficult to hire workers in response to business growth. What small business employers have to do is reevaluate who and how they are willing to accept help to keep their business thriving. Here are some tips to get the small business owner thinking about creative ways to obtain the personnel they need to keep their business running and prepared for growth.
Consider retirees. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 4.2 M workers retired during the height of the pandemic. Due to different reasons, many are willing to reenter the workforce. This is great for small business owners, especially younger small business owners. Though the millennial business owner is tech-savvy, the retiree has decades of experience and wisdom that can be gleaned for small business success. One of the other advantages of hiring a retiree is that they may be willing to work part-time and get more work completed with part-time work than a younger employee that needs time to develop on-the-job skills. Retirees may not have child care responsibilities and may have less financial responsibilities to consider in accepting employment. Retirees may also be more willing to work as independent contractors. With retirees in this relationship, the small business owner can be at ease in providing projects for them to work on because they can be trusted to complete the job well. Younger workers are great. They are feisty, ready to learn new skills, and are energetic in propelling a small business to the next level. Though don't disregard the retiree and the value that can be gleaned from their work experience.
Reevaluate benefits offered. During COVID times, there have been a myriad of opportunities for individuals to earn money without requiring an employer. The person reading this blog post has probably themselves taken advantage of the advancements in technology and started their own business working from home. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that small business owners are having a difficult time obtaining workers even with signing bonuses and referral incentives. You, as the small business owner, have to reevaluate what you have to offer as an employer that the benefits gained from other resources cannot provide. Salary and health insurance are not enough to compete with the lasting effects of COVID. Therefore, when enticing workers to work for you, think of what is unique and opportunistic about your company and use that to get workers to work for you. If you have structured your business appropriately, offer the ability for company ownership for individuals that onboard with your company and grow with your company. Many times small business owners want to maintain complete control of their business to pass it down for generations. Though millennial workers want more incentive from their work than just a salary and health insurance. With a properly structured business entity, you can offer ownership incentives and still maintain your desire to have primary influence on the direction of the company you dreamed about starting. With the successful hire and business structure, you could even consider training your new hire to start other branches of your business that can be started as business accelerates beyond what the small business owner can handle alone. Young workers are excited about seeing the fruit of their labor. By providing the appropriate incentives for remaining with the company, the small business owner may be able to keep the employees that you have invested in and use the skills that you were excited about in hiring them to build your business to new levels.
Consider an independent contractor relationship. Small business owners may think twice about an independent contractor relationship. Some small business owners want significant direction in how their workers are performing the work for their business. Understandable. Though with the appropriate contract between the business and the independent contractor, both parties can achieve success. You, as the small business owner, can spend less regarding benefits and employment taxes and you are supporting another small business. Another benefit pertinent to new small businesses is that you only pay for the work necessary. There may be business traffic slumps in the beginning stages of your business and the costs of a full-time worker may not be an appropriate return on investment at the time. With an independent contractor, the small business owner can propose projects to be completed and only pay for workers when work is available. You have provided an opportunity for those working for you to obtain other work and still get relief from completing every role within your business unnecessarily.
There are workers willing to work. The small business owner just has to be creative in who and how they obtain people to assist in the growth of the small business. With the appropriate business structure and solid contracts, the small business can obtain the personnel resources necessary to build and grow as the world progresses out of COVID times.
*Blog posts will now be updated every Saturday as opposed to Fridays.*
Comments