Making the first employee leap

Has your business been running for a little while? If you answered yes, you’ve likely discovered that there’s a difference between what your business does and how it functions. What it does is the services you offer, the care you provide. The way it functions is everything else. Learning this difference is a steep learning curve. 

One strategy that is used by many small businesses is to hire someone. This person they envision to do the aspects of running the business, that they don’t understand or don’t want to do. 
Otherwise known as, the leap to have a first employee. 

You're moving from the first baby steps of your business. To have a more managerial role where you oversee someone. You move from doing everything yourself, to have a little more time on your hands. This is a big step and an exciting one. 

Feeling giddy at the idea of returning to what you love doing? Love the idea of being unencumbered by the responsibilities you loathe? Maybe you’ll be able to have shorter workdays or take the weekend off. 

It sounds good, right?

And it can be fantastic. Knowing you can’t do it alone is a sign that your business is growing. But as you start to ask for help, and sign on your first employee - be sure that you’re delegating not abdicating. Don’t expect your employee to be the boss. It can be easy to start handing over more and more responsibilities to the person you’ve hired. It’s tempting to run and leave the functioning aspects of your business to someone else. But you can’t leave. This is your business, after all. 

You need to have a strategic plan to continue to grow your business. So if your employee leaves, there’s not a void that you need to step into. Staying plugged into your business ensures that you’re aware of how your business is running. And that you’re still steering the direction it’s heading.

 You don’t want to look up from your patient files one day to discover that your employee has resigned. Then you’re back to doing everything yourself. Consider and build a sustainable model of business that grows. Without you needing to doing everything yourself, or run away.