The thought of hiring your first employee is one that can fill you with equal parts excitement and dread. It’s great that you’re at a point where you feel the need for an extra set of hands. Yet the prospect of hiring and managing makes you break out in a sweat.

Don’t panic. If you’re experiencing symptoms of growth, it’s simply time to take a bird’s eye view of your business. Then plan your next steps.

Because of the inherent expense of hiring employees, it’s important to take your time before jumping in.

•    Finding and hiring a new employee takes an average of 42 days
•    It costs a typical small business $7645 for each new hire
•    It takes an average of 5 interviews before an offer is made

If you’re at a point where you feel the need for extra help, you’re at the critical point where you’re already short of time. You can’t waste that time or money you might not have.

Maybe you’re a solopreneur and you’re doing much better in your business than you ever anticipated. But you don’t want to drag down precious revenues with a new employee.

Perhaps you’re running a small business startup and the business plan calendar says it’s time to hire but you’re not quite convinced.

Perhaps you or your staff are lacking in skills needed to get to the next level of growth.

Sometimes the urge to hire is a symptom of another problem that can be eliminated with automation, software, a better system, or outsourcing.

7 Signs It’s Time to Hire Your First Employee

Whatever your situation, check out the 7 Signs It’s Time to Hire Your First Employee, a hiring infographic courtesy of Fundera.com.

It’s one way to restore focus to the hiring dilemma and get on track to a good hiring decision. Your hiring decision shouldn't be painful or mysterious!

How to Make the Hiring Decision Easier

There is a lot to be learned and gained from hiring your first employee. This makes it the perfect opportunity to create a hiring process for your business.

“Business processes” sounds intimidating. Yet it’s one of the most effective things you can do to free up your time, increase profits, streamline the running of your business, and ultimately increase its value.

Sure, you can read up on all the best hiring practices. That’s a good place to start.

Take it one step further by keeping complete notes as you go through your first hiring process. It’s the best way to develop a process that will become unique to your company’s needs.

For more details on how to create an efficient hiring process and have it work for you for years to come, check out our introduction to business processes designed specifically for small business owners.

Go here to get your free copy of 5 Key Steps for Creating Efficient and Powerful Business Processes.

And if you like the new-hire infographic, be sure to share with your colleagues using the social buttons!