Something every entrepreneur and small business owner struggles with is knowing when it’s time to bring on help for their business. While trying to keep costs low and trying to ensure that everything is done exactly to your specifications, it can often seem easier to just do everything yourself. But once you start to get overloaded, bringing on some help can be the only option. However, if you can’t afford to hire someone, you might be unsure what the next best step to take is.
To help you in figuring this out, here are three things to do when you need help but can’t afford to hire a full-time employee. Alternatively, consider using services like EOR to recruit in overseas where wages may be more cost-effective.
Outsource A Few Things
Getting some help is better than getting no help at all. So when you only have a small amount of money to spend on assistance, your best option might be to outsource the tasks that are going to be most beneficial to have done by someone else.
Sometimes, if you have a task that takes up a lot of your time but is relatively easy to do, like unloading freight when it comes in for your business, hiring someone to just do this task might be a great option. Or, if there is something that you don’t particularly enjoy doing and feel comfortable trusting to someone else, like keeping up with your social media profiles, outsourcing just this work to someone else could be ideal.
Hire On A Gradual Basis
For times when you know you’re going to start to need more help in order to get your business to the next level but you simply can’t afford to hire full-time help at the moment, one thing you might want to try is hiring someone on a gradual basis.
Similarly to hiring seasonally, hiring someone on as an independent contractor now with the possibility of becoming a part-time or full-time employee as things progress might work for you. Just make sure that you’re transparent about this with the person you’re hiring.
Look For Interns
For those businesses that can offer valuable experience to those working for the company but won’t be able to pay much at all, taking on an intern could be a good idea.
When someone gets an internship, they either anticipate not being paid or not being paid well. What they will be getting in return is amazing experience that they can use to get a better job later on. So if you think you can provide this, bringing on an intern or two could help you solve your problems.
If you’re needing help at work but can’t afford to hire someone full-time at this juncture, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you get creative.
