One particular week dey wey go tell you say di business dey work. You go turn down job, and no be because you no want am. You turn am down because you no fit pack orders, answer messages and still make di thing inside di same seven days. Dat one na good problem, and e get cheap solution wey small far pass wetin di word "hire" dey sound like.
Your first hire na four to eight paid hours a week of di one task wey you dey do worst. No be salary, no be office, no be job description. Four hours, one task wey dey repeat, wey you write down as checklist before anybody touch am.
And na here be di part wey almost nobody dey plan for. Dose four hours usually na somebody first paid work inside your trade. No be only time you dey buy back. You dey hand out di thing wey you need pass when you start, wey be person wey ready to allow you to be new.
When e really be time to hire person?
When you don dey turn down work wey you for fit do, no be when you hit some revenue number. Work wey you turn down na money wey you don already refuse, and dat one na di only figure wey you fit honestly compare with di cost of help.
Revenue threshold na poor signal for business wey get only one person inside, because di number wey matter no be wetin enter, na wetin you get to refuse. Write down every job wey you pass on last month and wetin e for pay. If dat figure big pass one month of four-hour weeks at fair local rate, di arithmetic don already work, and e don dey work for a while.
Then pick di task, and na here people dey miss road. Dem go hand over di task wey dem hate pass. Hand over di one wey you dey do worst and most often, wey usually na different task. Packing, listing, invoicing, first-line messages, cutting and sanding, entering numbers. E suppose repeat, e no suppose need your taste, and careful person suppose fit good for am inside two weeks.
Never di thing wey you best for. And never, for di first six months, conversations with customers about money.
How I go hand over task without am costing me more time than e dey save?
Write di task as checklist before you hire anybody, and time yourself as you dey do am once while you dey write. Di checklist na almost di whole work, and e worth making even if you never hire anybody at all.
You go discover say you get method. Everybody get. Di order wey you dey do things, di thing wey you dey check twice, di small trick with di tape, di reason why you never dey use di second box size: all of am dey live inside your hand and none of am dey for words yet. To put am for words na di first time wey you fit see your own process clear enough to improve am.
Dat one no be soft benefit. Memory researchers find say people wey study something with mind say dem go teach am dey organise wetin dem sabi better and dey remember more pass people wey dey study for test, and di effect still show even when di teaching never happen. To prepare to explain your process na di fastest road to really own am.
Keep di checklist plain. Numbered steps, one line each, photo of di finished state if your trade need am. Ten to twenty steps normal. Hand am over, watch once, then comot for di room. Come back after two weeks and ask wetin wrong with di checklist, because three things go dey wrong with am, and dem go fit see am while you no fit.
Who I suppose give di hours?
Di person wey no get track record but get real attention, before di experienced person wey dey do you favor. First break dey buy you care wey no rate card fit buy, and na di cheapest four hours wey you go ever buy.
Look for one signal: person wey wan dey inside dis trade and nobody don let am in yet. Di person wey message you dey ask how you dey do di finishing. Di student. Di neighbour wey don dey make things for kitchen table for one year and nobody don ever pay am for any of am. Di person wey dey come back to work after long gap wey nobody else go ask about.
Two rules, and you no fit negotiate any of dem. Pay fair rate for your area, and pay for di exact date wey you promise, every single time. Late payment na di whole relationship. Person wey dey im first paid work no get buffer and no get comfortable way to chase you, and to pay am for di day na wetin dey tell am say dis one real. If you no fit pay on time, you never fit afford di hours, and dat na clean answer, no be sad one.
Do di paperwork correct too. Whether person na contractor or employee no be wetin you call am dey decide am, and di tax authority dey publish di tests. Ten minutes to read dem now cheap far pass to find out later.
Wetin I really dey hand over, apart from di money?
Four things: di hours, di checklist, reference wey dem fit use, and your readiness to call dia name give somebody wey fit hire dem next. Di fourth one dey cost you one sentence, and na am dey change dia year.
One difference dey wey worth learning here, because most people never hear am. Mentor dey talk to you. Sponsor dey call your name inside room wey you no dey. Advice cheap and sweet to give. Sponsorship na small, specific act wey your own credibility dey attached to, and e mean say you go tell person wey dey look for help say dis person careful and fast, before anybody even think to ask you.
Do am concrete. Name di thing wey dem really good at, no be dia attitude. "She catch sizing error inside run of forty wey I for ship" na sentence wey dey get person work. "She get great attitude" no be.
Teach di part wey you good at while dem still dey with you, even when e no be di task wey you hire dem for. Twenty minutes, once, on how you dey price job. Na dat part dem no fit get anywhere else, and na di part wey dem go still dey use for ten years time.
Di founder of KEEP CALM talk im own version plain: "I dey always look for opportunity to coach, train, advise, lift up, commend and champion people wey dey my circle. Di positive energy and support wey I dey get back na 10 times." Na im account of im own twenty years be dat, no be promise about your own. Your own version na four hours a week and one sentence wey you talk loud to di right person, and di two of dem na ordinary business moves, no be favor.
Wetin usually dey come back
Talk wetin true and nothing more than dat. Person wey dey im first paid work often dey bring attention wey experienced help no dey bring, because e matter to dem for way wey e no matter to person wey dis one na just ordinary Tuesday for am. Apart from dat, careful with wetin you dey expect. Some go stay for years and go dey tell people where dem learn am. Some go end up running dia own thing and go dey send you di overflow wey dem no fit take. Some go waka and you no go hear from dem again, and you no go sabi which one be which for years.
Wetin you fit count on small and sure well well. Di task don comot from your desk. Di checklist dey. You discover say you get method. Everything after dat na upside wey you no pay for.
Add hours slowly, and add dem in response to work wey you turn down, wey be di same signal wey start all dis matter. Four go turn eight, eight go turn twelve, and somewhere inside there you go stop to be person wey get business and you go turn business wey get two people inside. Keep one thing for yourself di longest, wey be talking to customers about money. Dat one stay your own until you sure, and to sure dey take longer than you think.
Then do am again next year, with another person wey nobody don let in yet.
Sources
- Internal Revenue Service, Independent contractor (self-employed) or employee?
- Memory & Cognition, Expecting to teach enhances learning and organization of knowledge in free recall of text passages
- U.S. Small Business Administration, Manage your business