Are you looking to hire a team member? In our industry, this is a hot topic, because everyone automatically assumes they need a bookkeeper. I am here to tell you that a bookkeeper might be the last person you need to hire right now. There are probably a dozen other people you should hire before you even consider hiring a bookkeeper.
Questions to Ask Yourself Before Hiring a Bookkeeper
1. Do I have my systems and processes in place? — If the answer is no, then you definitely should not hire a bookkeeper just yet!
2. What are your current pain points and struggles? — If you need to set up your systems, get a program created, design a logo or graphics, you may need a VA or other expert to help you. When you hire these things out, you take a lot off of your plate and that frees up so much of your time.
Hiring a Team Member
If you have a lot of admin work, then a VA is going to be the best person to hire right away. You will pay a VA much less than your billed out rate. The same holds true for a graphic designer or an expert creating your systems or programs. While it can be costly to hire a graphic designer or systems expert, you must realize that they can get the work completed in a couple of hours. It could take you 12 hours or more to accomplish the same thing and it wouldn’t be half as good.
A perfect example of how you can save money is if a graphic designer was going to charge you $200 for a logo. If you charge $100 an hour and it took you 12 hours to create an okay logo, you would be losing out on $1,200 billable income. Can you see how hiring this person can be super beneficial?
Some of these team members you hire don’t even need to be under full-time contracts. You can simply hire them to complete the tasks you have for them. So, don’t think you must hire an employee for the long-term when you are considering hiring a team member for your business.
Hiring a Coach
If you currently have imposter syndrome or are struggling in other areas, you may want to consider hiring a coach instead of a team member. A coach can be the perfect addition to your team right now because they can help you through your struggles.
There are hundreds of coaches out there and you can find one who will work well with you if you do a little research. You may want to find one that can help you with sales, processes, or even life in general. There is no limit on what a coach can teach you!
Hiring a Teenager
If you have a teenager in the house or know one on your street, I urge you to consider hiring them. Teens are whizzes when it comes to technology, especially things like Canva. You can hire a teenager for a lot less than an adult who is an expert in their field. The best part is you will still get excellent results and the teen will get work experience to use in the future!
There are so many positions you can hire for in your business that is not a bookkeeper. You may want to consider a VA, online business manager, project manager, graphic designer, or even a personal assistant. Yes, someone who does stuff for you on a personal level is still a part of your team!
I recommend hiring a person who can help you tackle the items that are causing you to struggle in your business. Of course, once you hire this person, you must be willing to hand the work off and not micromanage every step of the way.
Now that you know you might not need to hire a bookkeeper, I want you to write down all of your pain points. Once you have your list, start to think about who you can hire to help you do those things, so they are taken off of your plate. I guarantee you will be thankful you looked past a bookkeeper and hired exactly the person you needed in your business right now.
And don’t worry, your time for hiring a bookkeeper is coming. Simply get everything in place first, so everything goes well when you do bring a bookkeeper on board.