Over the past few years, many businesses have made the difficult decision to reduce staff in order to stay profitable. With the economy showing some signs of improvement, small businesses need to be sure they don’t miss opportunities due to understaffing.
So, how does a small business staff up in preparation for growth that hasn’t happened yet without overextending?
“As we sit here in 2010, small businesses must take a hard look at how they can craft their future,” says Rieva Lesonsky, founder and president of GrowBiz Media. “It may mean making some unconventional staffing choices. If you still need to go with fewer people, how do you get that done, and how do you keep current employees happy? The key is flexibility, both for your business and your employees.”
How do you know if it’s time to staff up? If you’re not already doing so, Lesonsky suggests projecting your business’s needs in short, 3 month increments and anticipating your needs ahead of that time. If, for example, in June, you think business will pick up in the fall, you need to start staffing ahead of time, to avoid missing out on any potential opportunities. According to Lesonsky, “You have to anticipate and act. Then it’s a question of who, what, when, and how.”
Lesonsky suggests a few creative ways that companies can look at staffing:
Evaluating existing employees: Before adding staff, first take stock of who does what, and make adjustments if necessary. Are any of your current employees focusing on low-return activities when they could be doing other, more important things?
Contractors: Are a great way to solve for temporary needs, or on a per-project basis, and don’t require the benefits of a full-time employee. Be careful here, though, “There are often misconceptions and gray areas around the differences between a full time employee and a contractor,” says Lesonsky. To be safe, check out www.irs.gov, for a complete explanation of the differences between the two.
Bartering: Think about your family, friends, and other contacts. Is there someone who can help you with what you need through bartered services? Thinking of hiring a contract employee? If you barter with potential contract employees, then you might be able to get by without replacing headcount, and keeping your costs to a minimum, bartering products or services instead of paying a conventional salary. Social media and networking locally can assist in finding potential help.
Interns: Interns can be a cost-effective way to add manpower. Some states, like California, require that interns make minimum wage. However, in many states, if a student is part of a college internship program for which they receive credit, you may not need to pay your interns; they are there for the experience. In that case, you must be very clear about the opportunity, your expectations, be willing to work with their schedule, and be prepared to fill out any paperwork they may need to get credit. Make sure you give them real work; it’s a great way to add expertise inexpensively, and give real-life experience to a student hungry for the opportunity. If you need marketing help, find a marketing student. Accounting? Find an accounting student. In many cases, they may work out so well you want to hire them full time in the future.
Job sharing: Can be an ideal situation for employer and employee, and is all about flexibility; saving the business costs, since those sharing the job are technically part time vs. full time employees. Because of technology, many jobs can afford flexibility. Some employees might be willing to sacrifice a little for the convenience of working from home, and working fewer hours. Depending on your situation, you could also set up work from home programs on certain days, saving your business overhead costs.
Job sharing with another company: Depending on the type of job, you may be able to ‘split’ an employee with another company. For example, if you need accounting help, talk with other local business owners and see if you can job share with another company that needs the same kind of help. Instead of two employees sharing a job, it’s like a reverse job share, in that two companies are sharing the same employee, and his or her salary.
First and foremost, Lesonsky suggests, if you need to hire, start with any former employees lost through layoffs or natural attrition that you’d like to have back, to see if they might be interested in rejoining your company. If you hire an ex-employee, there’s far less ramp up time, which helps, especially when time is of the essence.
Finally, if the need isn’t there yet but is looming, you might consider starting an employee part time, then transitioning to full time as the need arises.
“The key is looking ahead, then leveraging all your connections to find the right people for your business, and making the decisions that best suit your needs,” says Lesonsky.
About Rieva:
Rieva Lesonsky is founder and president of GrowBiz Media, a content and consulting company specializing in small businesses and entrepreneurship. Rieva has been meeting with, consulting to and speaking to America’s SMBs for nearly 30 years. Prior to co-founding GrowBiz Media in 2008, she was SVP/Editorial Director of Entrepreneur Magazine.
A nationally recognized speaker who regularly addresses audiences across the country, she has appeared on hundreds of radio shows and numerous local and national television programs, including CNN, Good Morning America, the Today Show, Fox Business News, The Martha Stewart show and Oprah and can regularly be seen on MSNBC’s Your Business. Rieva is also the author of several books about small business and entrepreneurship, including the bestseller Start Your Own Business.
In addition to blogging on SmallBizDaily, Rieva regularly blogs about small business for AllBusiness.com, Small Business Trends, Business.gov, The Huffington Post and numerous business Web sites. She regularly contributes editorial content to SCORE and the Los Angeles SBDC.
She served on the Small Business Administration’s National Advisory Council for six years, and was honored by the SBA as a Small Business Media Advocate and a Woman in Business Advocate. The Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization honored her for helping drive “the entrepreneurial revolution in secondary education,” and the ASBDC awarded her a “Champion of Small Business” award.
Have questions for Rieva? Contact her at Rieva@GrowBizMedia.com.
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