I know, in the beginning you had to do all of the functions of your business, human resources, accounting, payroll, marketing, etc.
It was manageable for a while, but now your business is growing and you are beginning to feel stressed out.
Lady Bosses, as your business grows and the demands start piling up, you will have to start thinking about growing your staff. I am sure some of you are saying, “how can I grow my staff, when I can barely pay myself?”.
If you do not have a budget to pay staff, then you should consider hiring interns.
Interns can be paid a small stipend or can work for you free of charge. How you structure your internship will be based upon your budget and your vision for the position you are staffing for.
This is free labor, and guess what, they have great skills that could be beneficial to your business. Hiring interns will allow you have more time to focus on growing your customer base and enlarging your network of professional colleagues.
In addition, you will have more time to focus on “the big picture” strategy planning for your business. This is a win-win situation for you and the intern(s) you hire. For you, interns bring cutting edge knowledge and skills to your business and could turn into permanent employees once you are able to pay them.
For the intern(s), they are gaining valuable work experience and gaining knowledge about the ins and outs of operating a business.
Finding great interns takes time and patience.
You will have to conduct a real recruiting process to find the best fit. Do not hire the first intern who applies to your position, be highly selective. Take each applicant through a formal interview process.
Ensure the person you select, supports the mission and vision of your business. Lastly, you want to give them your expectations about the position and your company upfront. For more information on building your power team, please feel free contact me at randerson@ascholarstouch.com.
Dr. Rhonda Anderson is a Life Transitions Strategist and the President/CEO of A Scholars Touch, LLC (AST). Her practice specializes in Life, Education, and Business coaching. AST serves youth (ages 12-21), adults, and entrepreneurs with obtaining success both personally and professionally. Please visit AST on the web at http://www.ascholarstouch.com. Follow AST on FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, and Google+.
