As a small business owner, your to-do list is a mile long. Not only do you have a million things to do yourself, but your employees also rely on you to answer their questions and solve their problems. If you are considering starting a business or you already have, be ready to handle the following tasks.
Hiring
In a small business, you don’t typically have a hiring manager. This means that hiring employees generally falls to you. Choosing from a list of candidates that you don’t know well can be tricky, and yet it is vital to your company’s success that you get it right. You might find a hiring checklist helpful. The checklist should include both what you are looking for in an employee as well as a plan for your hiring process.
Be sure to look closely at the candidates’ resumes, including the cover letter, as well as the job application. It is also a good idea to perform background checks. Interviews can tell you a lot about a person as long as you ask the right questions. Through the entire process, it might be easiest to work backward and weed out the applicants who don’t have the right credentials, experience, or personal characteristics that you are looking for until the last one is standing.
Payroll
Without a payroll clerk, payroll is your responsibility. This means that it is up to you to manage your employees’ work times, wages, benefits, and taxes. It is important to understand all of the legal implications involved in payroll, which vary from state to state. Make sure that you understand your legal duty toward your employees in the states in which your employees reside.
Because this is such a complex duty that you don’t want to get wrong, it might be a good idea to hire a payroll clerk or, at the very least, consult a lawyer to be certain you are doing everything right. Specifically, tax withholding might be too complex a task to do yourself.
Administration
If you don’t have an administrative assistant, you will be spending much of your time scheduling appointments, answering emails, talking on the phone, speaking with customers, and more. Many small business owners learn quickly that these basic tasks can bleed them dry, prompting them to hire an assistant.
With an administrative assistant, your hands are freed to handle more critical matters. Ideally, most of your time will be spent on the most impactful aspects of your business. You don’t want to get stuck doing the mundane while your company sits stagnant and unable to grow without you. Find ways to simplify or delegate these tasks if at all possible!
If you enjoy reading this article. Here’s more to read: What Every New Entrepreneur Should Expect at the Beginning
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