By Renée Grannis, MBC™, ABC Director of Ethics & Compliance, Oklahoma City, Okla.When most small business entrepreneurs begin, they perform all of the office and field tasks themselves to save money—becoming the accountant, the lawyer, the delivery person, the IT person, and the janitor, on top of their main job. It doesn’t take long to realize that you can’t do it all. How do you know when to hire an employee?Before you need one! Hiring someone after you need them is more difficult because then you don’t have time to train them. Another mistake is thinking you can just do the task yourself in the same time it takes to train someone. That may be true, but think of all the other work you could do if you trained someone to take on the tasks that you are not good at or would rather not perform. Consider accounting—is this a strong suit or a weak spot for you? Now think about all of the tasks you despise that you just never get around to doing. These are the perfect tasks to hand to someone else. Releasing that small amount of stress allows you to be more productive and creative. Have someone else file or organize your contacts, and you’ll be able to book more clients and look more organized.How to afford the helpMake a list of your business tasks. Now, consider your hourly rate and the time it takes you to accomplish each task. Is it less expensive to hire someone than for you to do them? Some people worry that they can’t afford to hire help. That may be true, but being responsible for other people’s salaries often inspires us to work harder. Start small. Hire someone for a few hours or a couple of days a week. It could make a world of difference in your confidence or your ability to book more appointments.“But no one can do it as well as I can…”While that may be true to a degree, as long as you think this way, it restricts your income. Sometimes, a different approach is best. I resisted hiring consultants for years. I didn’t want to risk losing a client because of the way someone else did something. I often took event assistants with me to meetings, so they would be better informed about the clients’ personalities. In one case, I was having a tough time accepting a particular personality. My assistant made suggestions that proved accurate. We both discovered that she worked well with this type of person. As a result, I booked more clients by allowing her to take on that personality type. It was a win-win.What are your needs? Office or event staff?If you need someone to answer phones, make and keep your company schedule and calendar, maintain your books, organize your files, and the like, hire someone early for a per task or hourly rate. Consider outsourcing your office duties if you don’t want a person there regularly. If outsourcing is not an option, look for someone who only wants to work a few days a week and is used to working with small companies. Be specific about the duties and expectations. Hire self-motivated people who do not require handholding.The people working with you are the face of your company, especially event staff. Ensure that they know what is expected of them—what they can and cannot do during an event or with a client. Make a list of duties for each person/position and use it when you are hiring. In the beginning, a new person may need extensive training. As you grow more confident in their skills, you can supervise less and concentrate more on what you do best. Your event staff should know the overall plan for the event, the vendors and what is contracted from each, crisis management skills (even if they are deferring these situations to you), people and diplomatic skills, and knowledge of how your company operates.Avoid training the competitionThe biggest concern for many businesses is that they do not want to train their competition. Have all employees sign a non-compete clause. These are found on a variety of websites or through a lawyer. If you work with other Association of Bridal Consultant members, at least you know they are working under the same code of ethics and have access to the same type of training.Know the lawFinally, check the Workers’ Compensation Laws for your state. There is a clear difference between hiring a contractor and an employee. Many companies get in trouble because they don’t want to pay Workman’s Compensation and, therefore, classify event staff as independent contractors. In most states, if you tell someone what to do and when to do it, they are, nonetheless, an employee.Even before you think you need staff, do your homework and be prepared. Here are a few useful websites for hiring information in the United States:• IRS withholding, http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-& Self-Employed/Hiring-Employees• Help with hiring employees, http://business.usa.gov• Employee vs. independent contractor, http://biztaxlaw.about.com