Pulling the trigger on your first hire

a golden milestone; the first employee, that first advocate that's not you.

As a serial entrepreneur having built four businesses, it would be an understatement to say that I'm passionate about what makes founders tick. I spend a significant amount of my time speaking to entrepreneurs at all stages and gleaning insights into what inspires them, the challenges that you go through and the things they're trying to build.

I find that there is one big point of contention for a lot of preneurs trying to start things.

People are scared to make their first hire. They just don’t know where to start, or simply think because they are so gritty they can do it all themselves.

But to me this is a pivotal moment in business when the other shoe drops - and you are committing. It can seem petrifying to have to carry a person's salary, I know. But to me this is such a golden milestone; the first employee, that first advocate that's not you. Someone who can have traits that you potentially don't have; someone to be a sounding board.

People of all ages can be afraid of this milestone moment, I find there are a lot of mom's my age that have a couple kids that are getting older that have found really cool niches for Side hustle/businesses… who are scared to take the leap or keep telling themselves they’ve got it covered. But the only way to grow a business is to have more (and differentiated skillset) support.

Some ideas if you are dead afraid to pull the trigger:

• Start with a paid internship - there are so many young students looking to learn. They can either get credit or paid hourly wage. Test for three months and see how it goes

• Contractors - luckily we now live in a gig economy which has opened up so many people’s eyes to different types of scopes, terms, and people are willing to test new things, so it's very normal to test out a contract position, call at six months, maybe even three depending on what the role is

• Find someone who is young, hungry, believes in your vision and can have the same conviction you do around building something. For as many founders there are out there, there are SO many intrepreneurs who may not want to be a founder but can sure as hell rally around something as the 2IC (second in command - I know hilarious term but I love it)

On where to find good people:

My personal entrepreneurial journey runs so much based on intuition. I've always leaned into what I felt in my gut which is something my grandmother SIDIA taught me. Sometimes I have found the best people in the most unexpected places.

A recent example: I walked into The Webster one day checking in on our SIDIA candles. I met this gal who was so sweet. She was so intrigued by my story, she was such a fan of Coveteur, and asked if she could stay in touch. Over the next six months she would send me a DM here and there. Whenever I popped back in we would chat. I found myself looking for an executive assistant, and I was so impressed with how Jamie kept following up with me, she seemed unwavering at her belief that SIDIA was no doubt going to thrive, so I called Jamie and I was like I know you're looking for a marketing role, but would you wanna come on this journey with me which will ultimately I'm sure end up a role like that? She came on board and it was the best decision I've ever made. No time wasted on linked in! She's way more efficient than I am in so many programs and has a critical eye that I'm mesmerized by. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut!

I will say of the hundreds of people I’ve hired across my businesses, many have come from a retail environment. Selling on the floor teaches you so many invaluable skills about the industry I'm in. Customer service, organization, inventory, teamwork, and being at the final end of the cycle of a brand creating product is really interesting because you get to see what people like and don't like, consumer behaviour etc. If you are really struggling making a jump to this first hire, go to the store and talk to your favorite sales associates.

Ultimately to me the first employee is a great litmus test to see if you have the passion, fearlessness, resiliency and grit to build a significant business as its really one of the first big risks of a series of thousands of risks you will take on your journey!

xx EK