How to hire your first employees without hiring in a panic
Your first hire changes the business more than any other. We help you decide whether to hire at all, define the job properly and find someone who fits, before the pressure makes the choice for you.
Who this is for
For the owner who has been working nights for months and is wondering if it is finally time to take someone on. Maybe it is your first hire, maybe your fourth went badly. You want to get this one right and not simply fill a gap.
Where first hires usually go wrong
Hiring because you are drowning
You post the job in week six of working nights, so the role becomes whatever stops the pain this month. The person you pick may be wrong for where the business is heading next year.
A job nobody has written down
Ask three people what the new hire will actually do and you get three answers. Without a clear outcome you cannot judge candidates, or judge them properly in the first ninety days.
Not knowing the true cost
Salary is only part of it. Employer National Insurance, pension, equipment, your own management time and a slow first few months all land before the person earns their keep.
Hiring someone just like you
Founders pick people they get on with, then find the gaps are exactly where the founder was weak too. Nobody covers the finance, the follow up or the dull admin.
What we do before the advert goes live
Scope &
Strategy
We talk through the work stuck on your desk and sort it into three piles: hire for it, hand it to a system, or stop doing it. You get a short role outline with outcomes, a rough total cost and a view on timing.
About Scope & StrategySystems &
Solutions
We set up the plumbing around the hire: a simple applicant tracker, an interview scorecard, offer templates and a first week checklist. The next hire then costs you far less time than this one.
About Systems & SolutionsSecurity &
Support
We make sure a new starter gets only the access the job needs, with their own logins, and that it is switched off cleanly if they leave. We keep that tidy as the team grows.
About Security & SupportQuestions people ask
How do I know if it is time to hire my first employee?
Look for work that only you do, that keeps slipping, and that you can describe as an outcome rather than a mood. If it recurs every week, a hire may be right. If it comes in bursts, a freelancer or a better system may suit you more. We can talk it through.
What do I have to do before my first employee starts in the UK?
Broadly, you register as an employer with HMRC, check the right to work, give a written statement of employment terms, arrange a workplace pension and set up payroll. Rules change, so check GOV.UK or take advice from an accountant or employment adviser before anyone starts.
How much does an employee really cost a small business?
More than the salary. Add employer National Insurance, pension contributions, holiday, equipment, software licences, recruitment time and your own time training them. Work out the total first, then compare it with the work it takes off you. We can help you build that sum honestly.
How can NYAS help me with my first hire?
Start with a conversation. Tell us what is piling up on your desk and why you are thinking of hiring. We will say plainly whether a hire, a freelancer or a change in how you work looks right, and what we could help with from there.
Talk to us about hiring and building a team.
You tell us what is going on. We tell you honestly whether we can help, and if we cannot, we will say so.