When you hire your first employee
The first employee changes a company more than the first client does. What changes in practice, and what is worth preparing in advance.
Until the first employee, the company is you. After, the company is a place someone else comes to in the morning. That is a bigger change than it looks on paper.
What changes for you
Recurring monthly obligations appear, records have to be kept current, and a second calendar lands on top of the company's. Nothing complicated taken one at a time, but it is a new rhythm.
What to prepare before day one
- The role, written in a few lines: what this person does and does not do.
- How you will know it is going well, in the first three months.
- Who answers their questions when you are not available.
- Where the documents they need to work live.
A badly written role only hurts in month four, when nobody remembers who is responsible for what.
The part we take on
The contract, the filings, payroll, the register, dealings with the authorities. That is the repetitive part with fixed deadlines, and it should not take your attention. You keep the hard and interesting part: choosing the right person and working well with them.
A common mistake
People postpone the formalities “until we see if it works out”. It is the other way round: clear formalities from the start are what makes it work, because both of you know what to expect.
