When is the right time to expand your team? As the Zartis team in Spain gets ready to move into a bigger and better office in downtown Madrid, it dawned on me that this would be a great topic for our next post. Growing headcount is one of the things entrepreneurs have a tough time with, for it usually means making a big commitment, and adjusting mentally to the fact of running a bigger business.
The first thing you have to recognize is your company’s trend. Is your business growing, and if so, is that growth sustainable. You do not want to acquire additional financial responsibilities if your company is not performing very well, or if market conditions are deteriorating. However, if the company is in on an upward curve, you should be thinking of the positive impacts that a growth mindset can have for your company. New hires, when recruited and onboarded effectively, can give everyone a lift.
What some people fail to see is the additional cost for your company in not hiring. We have recently found ourselves turning away business due to a lack of resources to deliver on potential projects. Sometimes you don’t get asked twice, so the cost for us here is in losing potential and existing clients because we haven’t hired enough people. Other costs occur when you try and stretch your existing resources too thinly – taking on new projects without additional staff. This can lead to burn-out, lower levels of employee engagement and eventually attrition.
The delicate balance for growing companies, particularly those without external investment, is around payroll vs. cashflow. For almost every company, labour is the largest cost. Having enough workers, delivering enough value, balanced with collecting cash efficiently enough so that you don’t have a crunch, is the tightrope walk that many entrepreneurs know all too well.
Hiring a new or expanded team is a very important decision. Any growth comes with risk as well as the potential for huge rewards. Getting the timing right is an inexact science, and some factors can be outside of your control. However, without risk, there is no enterprise, and it’s very difficult to accomplish anything without a great team. If you need help building your team please email us at sayhello@zartis.com or use the contact form below in this page to get in touch.
