Best Business Expert

At some point your business will grow and you'll need to add more people. But who to add first and what they should do is a question that many entrepreneurs have but few can find the right answer.

I've seen a few ideas floating around and I'm going to provide 3 ideas here for you to consider:

1. Administrative support. As an entrepreneur you're doing a lot of work and it's all important… but it doesn't all add immediate value to your business or generate immediate revenue. This work is usually administrative in nature. Yes, it is critical to do but it's not something it is critical for you to do. Tasks include phone calls, appointment setting, keeping web assets up to date, and much more. This will free you up to grow your company without having to get bogged down in the details.

2. Sales. This is a huge opportunity but often ignored by small business owners. Adding a sales-person to your team is a great way to grow your business. Chances are, up to this point, you've been doing most of the selling yourself. A sales person can take that work on, and will often work for a commission or percentage of the sale. If you sell AND provide the deliverable (i.e. consulting services is a good example) then a sales person can help you focus on delivering by taking your selling effort off of your plate.

3. A partner who complements you. You may not want an actual partner (that is, a person who owns a percentage of the business) but you probably will want someone who acts like a partner to work closely with you. In choosing this person, first think of yourself and what areas you are particularly skilled and unskilled in. If you are a good starter but a poor finisher, find someone who is a good finisher. If you are a great implementer but not a great visionary, find someone who is a great visionary. In this way, you'll ensure that the complex tasks in your business are covered by someone.

These are the first three roles you should consider when hiring someone for your new business. Which order you hire them in depends on you. An administrative person is probably going to be the lowest priced of the three but will likely be paid hourly. Your sales person could be your highest paid person (although you'll probably only pay them if they sell so that won't be a big deal) and they'll have the most positive impact on your revenue. The "complementary partner" can help you in various areas of your business but will probably be the hardest to find. Fortunately, all three of these roles can be filled with people who work virtually, thus helping you to keep your costs down.

Where do you go from here? That depends on your business. You might need a marketer or a customer service rep or someone to help deliver your deliverables. But these three roles are the most important to fill in your early days.

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