First Employee. Any wisdom or experiences to share?
Discussion
I currently wear two hats.
Four days a week I have an office based job as a senior engineer with a local authority. Been there 13 years, slow career progression, steady ok money, good pension and a job for life I expect. Nice office, no real pressure, nice restaurant, flexi time, 6 months full paid sick leave, very comfortable. In the summer they allowed me to reduce my hours to four days. I have three kids, a wife who is a professional mum and own my own house with a mortgage. I like the fact my monthly outgoings are covered on the first of every month no matter what.
On Fridays and Saturdays I work for myself. Small engineering company. Specialist welding, fabrication and machining. Dirty fingernails and hard graft but great satisfaction. Work is booming, and coming in from all directions. Turnover is currently £81.5k pa (I know VAT soon) and on the rise.
With two days work the business already covers all my fixed costs (rent, rates, electricity, accounts, insurance etc) and makes a worth wile profit.
I have a guy that comes in every now and again who helps me. He is self employed and invoices me for payment.
Its got to the point where I really need to employ someone to keep up with demand but it scares me ALOT.
I'm hoping if I find the right person they can work for me during the week with little supervision.
I already have employers liability insurance and PAYE for up to 5 people is covered in my accounts package.
What else do I have to consider? What words of wisdom does anyone have for me? How did taking on your first employee go?
Four days a week I have an office based job as a senior engineer with a local authority. Been there 13 years, slow career progression, steady ok money, good pension and a job for life I expect. Nice office, no real pressure, nice restaurant, flexi time, 6 months full paid sick leave, very comfortable. In the summer they allowed me to reduce my hours to four days. I have three kids, a wife who is a professional mum and own my own house with a mortgage. I like the fact my monthly outgoings are covered on the first of every month no matter what.
On Fridays and Saturdays I work for myself. Small engineering company. Specialist welding, fabrication and machining. Dirty fingernails and hard graft but great satisfaction. Work is booming, and coming in from all directions. Turnover is currently £81.5k pa (I know VAT soon) and on the rise.
With two days work the business already covers all my fixed costs (rent, rates, electricity, accounts, insurance etc) and makes a worth wile profit.
I have a guy that comes in every now and again who helps me. He is self employed and invoices me for payment.
Its got to the point where I really need to employ someone to keep up with demand but it scares me ALOT.
I'm hoping if I find the right person they can work for me during the week with little supervision.
I already have employers liability insurance and PAYE for up to 5 people is covered in my accounts package.
What else do I have to consider? What words of wisdom does anyone have for me? How did taking on your first employee go?
Check your area to see if there are any schemes that might be of use.
In Wales there are several, such as Jobs Growth Wales where they pay someones wage (NWM) for 6 months.
Something like that could really work well for you.
Getting the right person is probably your biggest challenge.
At the end of the day an employee only really cares about their pay at the end of the month. Don't expect them to work anywhere near as hard as you do in your own business.
I had someone onboard for 6 months this year and to be honest it ended up creating more work, so I would be hesitant to go through it all again.
Totally depends on the line of work though, that is just my view.
In Wales there are several, such as Jobs Growth Wales where they pay someones wage (NWM) for 6 months.
Something like that could really work well for you.
Getting the right person is probably your biggest challenge.
At the end of the day an employee only really cares about their pay at the end of the month. Don't expect them to work anywhere near as hard as you do in your own business.
I had someone onboard for 6 months this year and to be honest it ended up creating more work, so I would be hesitant to go through it all again.
Totally depends on the line of work though, that is just my view.
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