Should you hire an employee or a subcontractor for your bookkeeping business? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan break down the difference between hiring an employee and a subcontractor, their pros and cons, and when it makes sense to go with either.
- Melissa starts the conversation by describing the difference between hiring employees and hiring subcontractors.
- Melissa explains why it's important that subcontractors and employees be held to the same performance standard.
- For Melissa, performing a task audit is the first step to understanding whether you need to hire an employee or a subcontractor.
- Hannah and Melissa go through the difference in workload for sub-contractors and employees.
- Melissa breaks down the steps to making a successful first hire in your small business.
- Melissa believes it's more beneficial for your first hire to be a subcontractor than an employee while you figure out what you want.
- Hiring and onboarding is expensive. To help increase the odds of a successful hire, Melissa believes all new team members should go through a 90-day probationary period.
- According to Hannah, the most effective way to reduce employee turnover is to make it clear from the beginning that you're investing in a long-term relationship.
- Melissa adds that the goal of every successful hire is to be clear on the level of commitment you expect from the new team member.
- Melissa highlights that employees don't like too much freedom - as a business owner, you must set clear expectations, rules, and processes.
- Hannah describes how having a well-defined business structure leads to increased productivity.
- While there's no way to guarantee an employee stays with you long term, Melissa believes maintaining a positive work environment will increase their odds of staying.
- Hannah and Melissa share the pain of investing in an employee only for them to move on.
Mentioned in this episode:
hello@ilovebookkeeping.com
