Unlocking Your Business Potential

Adding your first employee could be the key to faster success

Being the Chief Everything Office (CEO) has its benefits and drawbacks — isolation and loneliness.

If “it’s lonely at the top” of success, it’s lonelier at the top of something as new and unproven as a startup. Entrepreneurs often need a team to thrive.

But transitioning to a +1 status — the important milestone of hiring your first employee — shouldn’t be a flippant decision.

It’s important to consider the cultural, financial, and business implications of a +1 before making this decision. Understanding the business case (skill augmentation, time constraints, growing book of business) clarifies the timing of this strategic decision.

Being a solo entrepreneur can be an exhilarating journey filled with freedom and self-determination. However, as your business starts to flourish, you reach a point when you need to expand beyond the confines of a one-person operation.

The first hire can be tricky and risky. The founder of Smart Passive Income, Pat Flynn, started his entrepreneurial journey by paying contractors to get work done while he was a one-person operation. However, a time came when he needed more people around who could help him grow, so he made his first hire, his virtual assistant.

“The experience blew me away — it was like I’d been able to clone myself and get twice as much done,” Flynn said. “There was no way I’d ever return to trying to do it all myself.”

Maybe you’re considering your +1 or more, knowing it’s time for expansion. Now is the time to make significant changes to reach your business’s potential. In today’s hack, I’ll tell you how.

Read more about Unlocking Your Business Potential.