Jodi’s Question: I am currently considering hiring an assistant. Since I work out of my home, this assistant would be helping me pick up the slack around my house, with my personal and business errands as well as helping me with some of the busy work of my business that I don’t seem to have the time for. What I am wondering is if anyone else here has hired an assistant, and whether they actually helped simplify your life, or whether having them around to supervise all the time made it more work for you.”
Suzette’s Answer: I have had both employees and subcontractors. I hired a neighbor to do my errands. She was reliable and a pleasure to work with. I hired her as a subcontractor that meant she did the errands on her schedule (other than picking up the items when I called) and paid her own taxes. There isn’t as much supervision with a subcontractor (too much and the IRS calls them an employee).
I have had two employees over the years. Neither of them was wildly successful. They both performed the basic functions of the position but didn’t go above and beyond (i.e. didn’t show much initiative). I found errors in their work that was unacceptable (i.e. I audited the books for the clients there were responsible for). I obviously didn’t keep a close enough eye on their work. I set their hours, trained them, gave them projects to work on and had them in my home office. Therefore, I was responsible for payroll taxes.
I have also hired from a temp agency. She was my most successful hiring. She was my employee but I paid the temp agency and they paid all the taxes. If I had enough work I would hire her back in a heartbeat.
There is always a risk with hiring someone to help. Whether it’s a subcontractor, a temp or an employee, interview him/her to find out if you can work together. Do you like their work ethic? Can you get along with their personality?
Will you be saving money if you hire someone? For example your errands take 3 hours a week. If you charge $20 an hour to do what you do that is $60 a week you could be earning instead of running around. Now, if you hire someone at $10 an hour you would be paying $30 (if she/he is a subcontractor). $60 vs $30
In my case, I paid my subcontractor $20 each time I had her run errands. Yep, a flat fee. Sometimes it was a trip to the bank. Other times I had her drop off / pick up materials from the printers, run to the bank and drop something off at school.
You may find that just having someone run your errands frees up enough time for you to do some of the work in your business you have been unable to get to.
