What Every Small Business Owner Needs to Know About Hiring

(StatePoint) Looking to staff up your small business? Don’t underestimate the importance of getting your hiring decisions right. The smaller your business is, the more important your choices become.

“While searching for employees does take you away from your primary duties of running a business, it’s crucial to pay close attention to the task,” says Meredith Hanrahan, SVP of Small Business Solutions at Monster, a global leader in connecting people to jobs. “The right or wrong hire can actually make or break your business.”

When adding employees to your business, here are a few important things to consider:

• Hiring can be expensive. Thirty-one percent of small business owners spend over $300 to hire someone new, with 18 percent spending between $301 and $1,200 and another 12 percent spending over $1,200, according to Monster’s “Small Business, Big Hire Survey” conducted by Braun Research. Don’t duplicate this expense with a wrong decision!

• You’re only as strong as your weakest link, and the wrong person on your team could be detrimental to your entire operation. Among small business owners in the same study, the top reasons why hiring the wrong person puts their business at risk include the fact that it will negatively impact the company’s reputation (68 percent) and lead to decreased productivity (62 percent). Maintain your brand’s integrity by building the ideal team.

• Small business owners tend to have a packed schedule and a strict budget. The process of finding great job candidates can put a strain on both of these scarce resources, if not managed wisely. To find and hire someone with the grit necessary to succeed in a small business, consider using services that help streamline this important task quickly and on-budget.

Several tools from sites like Monster, such as social recruiting and targeted emails to top candidates, as well as campaigns and alerts from potential candidates, can increase search results and ultimately save time and money.

You built your business from scratch by the power of your determination and unique vision. Don’t underestimate the importance of building a great team to go with it.