How should I think about hiring my first employee?

Question

I'm a solopreneur but business has gotten busy enough that I need to hire.  Trying to figure out whether it's better to hire a general, all-around assistant, someone with particular skills or just add a couple different contractors to fill in for different area

Answer 1

Hey Sarah - can you say more about what you want this person to do? There's a giant difference between an assistant helping you better optimize your day and adding another revenue generator to your team.

The most important thing when hiring is making sure you have a solid understanding of inbound cash flow over not just the next 60 days but the next 6-12 months. The best early hires are the ones that make your business more money.

I will say I'm not super keen on assistants, though. I started as a solopreneur as well (self funded), run 3 businesses, and have no assistant.

-RP

Answer 2

When I first hired someone, I tried to find an assistant who could help me with everything.  But it was hard to train them and I kept thinking it was easier to do it myself.  So then I made a list of the tasks I really didn't like or felt like they were wasting my time and found someone who could do many of those things.  Because the tasks were better defined, I was actually able to start with a remote virtual assistant, which wasn't very expensive.  It saved me time and took away a lot of the things that were bogging me down, so I felt much more productive