At what turnover point did you employ first staff member?

Legacy_user

I work myself, no employees and turnover in the last year has been £2million. I work really hard but its getting too much to handle!

Opinion

Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity.

Employ someone when you need them, can afford them, and when they bring something (skills, etc.) to the business.

whitewing

It really depends on what you do and how you do it and when you do it.

I employed at a much lower turnover. This is because, although I work fulltime, I have a young DD and I don't want to work every hour on it, I want to see her too. So I make less profit obviously.

El_Torro

I have no idea about running my own business, however the companies I have worked at have had a payroll expense of somewhere between 10% and 15% of their turnover. A one man business with a turnover of £2 million seems to be quite low on staff to me. I guess it depends very much on what industry you're in.

Of course your profit also matters. If your turnover is £2 million and your gross profit is currently £10k then I would say that you can't afford to hire anyone.

Also, what benefit will staff bring? Will they allow you to grow your business exponentially? Will growth reduce your profitability? What is the optimal size for your business?

Percy1983

To mirror the above, if you need somebody and your profits allow it then its time to hire.

trailingspouse

It depends more on what needs doing than on turnover. If needing to do something relatively low-skilled and mundane is stopping you from going out and getting more business, then it's time to take someone on.

theEnd

Turnover is meaningless.

You could buy and sell some shares worth £2M is seconds, or you could be producing handmade trinkets at a couple of quid each.

robatwork

berbastrike wrote: »

I work myself, no employees and turnover in the last year has been £2million. I work really hard but its getting too much to handle!

You know the answer. Do less work, work fewer hours, or take on someone to do some of it.

Expect to have to do MORE work in the first few months while they get up to speed and you can trust them to do what you do properly.