In the modern world, small businesses can start almost out of thin air.
Thanks to the connectivity of the internet, small businesses can easily reach their target market regardless of their physical location. Gone are the days of having to move to a big city if you want to be a successful entrepreneur.
Instead, you can now start a small business from the comfort of your living room. Not only does this make it easier for you to get started, but it also helps you save money.
By starting a small business remotely, you avoid the need to move while also saving yourself the money you would otherwise spend on renting an office or storefront.This is fantastic news for entrepreneurs everywhere. All you need is an idea for a business and a plan to launch and you can go for it.
But part of any successful business is growth, and with growth comes more demand and responsibility.
Often times this means bringing in help. There’s only so much one person can do in a day, and as a business owner you need to focus on the high-level tasks involved in running a business.
At the same time, employees are expensive, and finding the right fit can be a lengthy and tedious process.
So how do you know if you really need one?
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When You Truly Need an Employee
There are a few instances where hiring someone is truly the only way forward.
If your business is extremely niche and requires a great deal of expertise to understand, an employee is probably the only option. You’re going to need to vet your candidates very thoroughly to ensure they know what they’re doing.
You also need a traditional employee if you’re going to be running a traditional storefront. If you have a brick-and-mortar shop but you’re too busy with other operations to worry about ringing up customers, there’s not really any other option.
Artificial intelligence has come a long way, but it still can’t manage a store all on its own.
Finally, if you’re business is in a highly technical field like medicine or accounting, you’ll probably need a true employee in these cases as well. You can’t really work around the extreme levels of expertise you’ll need for these positions.
That said, if you don’t fall into any of these categories, there are plenty of other options.
Alternatives to Traditional Employees for Small Businesses
With the introduction of so many new technologies, many small business owners are able to automate tasks that would previously require employees.
Everything from emails to incoming calls can be handled by a machine. There are plenty of softwares on the market to help you manage these tasks.
While these automated options may be a bit less personal, they are often far cheaper than hiring a full-time employee. This means you can support your business’s growth without having to find additional funding, helping you grow even more over time.
Another modern alternative to traditional employees is to work with freelancers.
Freelancers are independent contractors that you pay on a per-project basis.
Freelancers can help you save money by allowing you to pay for what you need only. You don’t have to provide a full-time salary to a freelancer. You just pay for the time it takes them to deliver their products or services.
Freelancers are more expensive than software, but they are also able to cover more of the gaps than software can. This makes them a great solution for more personal or thought-intensive tasks like writing or web design.
Conclusion
The modern world is perfect for small businesses. It’s enabled entrepreneurs to launch their businesses with very little effort and overhead.
Of course, as business grows, there’s an increased demand placed on the business owner.
But that doesn’t mean you always need an employee. It is also important to think about other things you need to do and cover when you have employees like health benefits and getting employers liability insurance. If you aren’t in an extremely niche or technical field, chances are you can use software or freelancers to fill the gaps at a fraction of the cost.