The Boss, Plus Two
Hiring Employees Grows A Business
They can help their clients better manage their time, money and paper, ensure that relocations run smoothly and de-clutter homes, garages and offices. But as the business continues to grow and become increasingly successful, many professional organizers must hire employees to handle the increased volume.
After operating alone for about five years, one NAPO member finally realized that, without proper staffing, he would lose clients to other organizers. “When people call us, they want it yesterday.” he says. “They don’t want to hear ‘I can’t see you for three weeks.’ They’ll call the next organizer.”
Following several more years in which he used subcontractors from time to time, he took the plunge and hired two part-time employees. “I could handle more clients and schedule clients when I personally wasn’t available. I could match the person with the skill set that was needed for the job. I don’t have every skill set, and I’m burnt out working with certain types of clients.”
In addition to a broader organizational skill set, the new hires have brought this 12-year NAPO member additional word-of-mouth advertising. The employees, like the boss, talk and network about the business and have a vested interest in helping it grow.
Hiring others has meant giving up some control and realizing that his employees can present different methods of tackling the same organizational tasks. “There are five ways to organize a pantry and all five ways will equally serve the client,” he says. “As long as the end result is we have a happy client, I don’t need to know the details of every single little thing.”
For organizers looking to hire their first employees, he recommends sticking with individuals they know they can trust, preferably people they have worked with on projects.
In retrospect, his only regret is not hiring employees sooner. “For a long time I didn’t feel that I had enough business to do this, to give a person the kind of hours that they wanted,” he recalls. “Don’t be afraid of the costs. It’s not as hard to manage two employees as I thought.”
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