Questions to Ask Before You Hire More Employees......

1. What kind of business do you want?

Not everyone wants a big business. Many would rather concentrate on a smaller one and be closely involved on many levels, because there are rewards to business other than just money. As you grow a business, you may have to become disengaged with parts that give you pleasure, because you’ll spend more time on the overall operation and have to delegate more aspects.

Also, you’ll have to channel more cash into expansion, which could mean having to lower your own compensation and standard of living for some time. Some find that a proper tradeoff, while others are unhappy with the transition or ultimate result. Consider what you want from the business and whether you have the necessary patience to personally move backwards for a while to hit the bigger time.

2. Can you throttle back growth if needed?

With some businesses, you have more control over growth. For example, if you offer some sort of personal service, you can restrict your customer base and pass along additional business to colleagues.

In other types of business, you may have less control. Selling a product online puts you more at the mercy of the business that comes in. If your offer becomes hot for some reason, you may become inundated with orders and then be obligated to fulfill them. Depending on the type of business and demand, you might find that you have to expand and hire more people.

3. What is your growth like?

Many entrepreneurs get excited when they see a rush of business. They assume that the proper response is to expand to meet demand. But growth may be momentary rather than continued. Have a product get unexpected publicity and you might see a sudden uncomfortable increase in orders. Once the exposure has run its course, usually in a relatively short period of time, demand could drop back to previous levels.

Before deciding on growing your staff, be fairly sure that the increased workload will last long enough to justify them. If not, consider overtime and temporary help to bridge the temporary gap.

4. Are you suffering from growth?

Entrepreneurs typically have to have healthy egos to believe that they can succeed when others says they will fail. The character feature can become a flaw if it starts to run unchecked. One subtle way it can express itself negatively is in desiring the trappings of a larger business before they are truly necessary. If you’ve grown too quickly, you may notice a rise in the number of customer complaints about service or employee concerns that they cannot keep up with their jobs. The action you choose may be more efficient business processes. But if you still can’t adequately handle problems, it may be a sign that you do need more help.

5. Is there outside help available?

Needing more help is fine, but do you need to hire in-house? You might have business processes that could be outsourced to other companies for a reasonable increase in variable costs you can handle through pricing rather than the fixed business costs of permanent employees. That way, your business can more effectively respond to changes in demand. Some areas to consider might be call centers, fulfillment, or accounting. Moving some tasks outside the company frees internal resources to do the types of work that are core to the business.

6. Do you really need help?

It may be that you can handle some tasks internally more easily than you think. An example: Do you really need a full-time bookkeeper, or are there still a few hours a month where you could personally enter numbers into an accounting system and have an accountant review the work? Are there other tasks you could take on, freeing up current staff to handle orders and customer concerns?

Be most wary of hiring additional executives until the business is really cooking. Even a vice president of sales may be ineffective if the company does not have sufficient revenue.

7. Are you ready for the short-term profit impact?

Growing a business typically has a strong hit on profitability. You ramp up for where you think the business will go within the next few months. That means temporary excess capacity that adds more fixed costs, including benefits, worker’s comp, and additional payroll taxes. These additional costs get distributed over all your sales and cut gross margins until growth catches up and restores a more normal balance.

As you can’t both grow the business and generally cut expenditures at the same time, the hit will be to profitability and possibly your personal income. Do you have the capital to support the growth? Are you prepared, if necessary, to reduce your personal expenses and plans to help underwrite the growth? If not, you will find yourself at war with what you want to do for the business, ultimately hurting everything.

8. Are you set up to handle more employees?

Finally, your startup needs the processes, procedures, and organization to handle a sudden influx of employees. They will all need orientation, training, and management. There might be additional federal or state legal requirements should the staff size expand to certain numbers. You may need additional office space, equipment, and software licenses.

Hiring employees is a big step for a new business. Do your homework, consider the implications, and be ready so your company can continue to be successful.

7 Things Really Persuasive People Do..........

1. They Are Purposeful

Truly persuasive people understand their power and use it sparingly and knowingly.  They understand that most conversations do not require trying to get someone to do or accept something. Aggressive pushers are a turn-off and will put most people on the defensive. It’s the person who rarely asks or argues that ultimately gets consideration when they strongly advocate an idea, especially when they do it with power and persistence.  Simply put, they pick their battles. Want to persuade more? Argue and advocate less often.

2. They Listen … and Listen … Then Listen Some More

People who know how to persuade also know that just pushing your own argument will get you nowhere. They certainly are able to articulate their position in a convincing way, but that is only half the equation. They are actively listening when in persuasion mode. First, they are listening to assess how receptive you are to their point of view. Second, they are listening for your specific objections, which they know they’ll have to resolve. Last, they are listening for moments of agreement so they can capitalize on consensus. Amazingly persuasive people are constantly listening to you and not themselves.  They already know what they are saying. You can’t persuade effectively if you don’t know the other side of the argument.

3. They Create a Connection

It’s easy to dismiss people who trying to persuade you if you have no emotional stake in them or their argument. Really persuasive people know this, so they will be likeable and look for common ground to help establish emotional bonds and shared objectives. They show empathy for your position and make it known that they are on your side. They manage their impatience and wait for you to give them permission to advocate their approach. You’ll persuade people much more easily if they are open and aligned with your desires.

4. They Acknowledge Credibility

Really persuasive people understand that there is no sense wasting time arguing facts; most of the world does not function in black and white. They value strong opinions and will make sure that you are entitled to yours. In fact, they will make sure they give you full credit for every argument of yours that has some validity. This makes it harder for you to fully dismisstheir point of view. When you are persuading people, reinforce their credibility on facts and opinions rather than dismissing them outright. Then they’ll be more likely pay you equal respect in the exchange and be more open to the merits of your opposing view.

5. They Offer Satisfaction

Smart persuaders know that they don’t have to win every little battle to win the war. They are more than willing to sacrifice when it helps the overall cause. They are ready to find the easiest path to yes. Often that is simply to give you what you want whenever possible. In my old lending days, we would often deal with busy underwriters who asked for items we knew they already had. Instead of arguing the point, we would just resend the documents and save our energy for issues that were not so easily resolved. Give ground where you can and hold your ground only where it matters. Choose being successful over being right.

6. They Know When to Shut Up

Successful persuaders get that you don’t win the battle by constantly berating people with an unending verbal barrage. Wearing people down is not an effective strategy. They carefully support their arguments and check in with questions that will help to close the conversation. Then they step back. The great sales trainer Tom Hopkins still today teaches these decades-old techniques of his mentor J. Douglas Edwards. His most important lesson is “Whenever you ask a closing question, shut up. The first person who speaks, loses.”

7. They Know When to Back Away

Urgency and immediacy are often the enemies of real persuasion. It’s possible to close a less significant sale through urgency, but deep ideas require time and thought to take root. Great persuaders bring you along in your own time. And they give you the space and time to carefully consider their position. They know that nothing is more powerful than your persuading yourself on their behalf. That almost never occurs in the presence of the persuader. The next time you want to persuade someone of something truly important, follow the tips above, make your case, and walk away. If they don’t come around, you were probably wasting your effort in the first place.