Hiring a "First" Employee, Take Two

Hiring a "First" Employee, Take Two

- Lessons Learned, Episode 25

In Episode 21, I talked about my first attempt to hire an employee. See https://blog.smallbizthoughts.com/2025/03/trying-to-get-that-first-employee-take.html.

Having failed to do it right the first time, I went more slowly the second. I decided to hire a part-time tech who would work as needed. Having set that intention, it didn't take long before someone came along who was willing to do just that. 

Al was newly-minted with a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) certificate and looking to figure out how to get into IT consulting. He was not young, but he was eager. Best of all, for me, he was willing to tag along for free and work when I need an additional pair of hands. 

This quickly moved into about twenty hours per week. But it was sustainable because I wasn't committed to a full forty hours plus benefits.

Lesson for newbie consultants: MANY business owners worry that they have to hire someone fulltime or nothing. Be flexible and you'll get something. Note: Al hung out with me for about a year as he worked to grow his own business. He honed his skills.

And when he left, I had learned that a part-time tech was both manageable and good for helping someone launch their career. So I had a system and went looking only for someone interested in part-time. Of course I found one easily. 

Another lesson for me is that there will always be an unlimited supply of people trying to break into this industry. You might have the technical skills, but all the details of working a job, taking notes, and making it repeatably successful have to be learned.

As revenue grew with this extra pair of hands, I revisited my real need: I hadn't become "too busy" with tech support. I had become too busy with paperwork, billing, collections, opening the mail, getting out newsletters on time, and all the front office stuff that makes a business run.

That's when I started looking for my first administrative assistant - who would eventually stay with me for eight year. But that's a story for next time.

All comments welcome.

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Episode 25

This Episode is part of the ongoing Lessons Learned series. For all the information, and an index of Lessons Learned episodes, go to the Lessons Learned Page. 

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