10 Signs It's Time to Recruit Employees for Your Franchise

If you’re running your own business, it can be hard to know when to start your employee recruitment scheme - particularly if you’ve been going it alone for some time. Luckily, there are a few signs to look out for. Here are some of the biggest indicators you’re ready to recruit employees for your franchise business.

It’s not uncommon for franchisees to hesitate when they think it might be the right time to enlist help. Hire a new recruit too soon, and you could end up paying more for their salary than they bring into the business. So, keep reading to find out whether your franchise unit could benefit from new staff members. 

10 signs to look out for if you think you’re ready to recruit employees 

1. You frequently turn down work 

When you’re trying to grow your business, saying ‘no’ to exciting new projects can be incredibly frustrating. With extra help, you could take them on while still satisfying long-term clients - or, if you’re in the hospitality industry, increase your capacity to welcome additional customers. 

If your business is booming during certain holidays or seasons, there’s no reason why you couldn’t hire temporary staff to cover your busier periods.

2. You’re often stressed 

Some franchisees assume stress is a natural part of business ownership - but it doesn’t have to be. While franchising can involve long hours and sleepless nights in the first few months, your health shouldn’t suffer in the long run. If you often feel tired, nauseous or depressed, it could be a sign you need to recruit employees for your franchise business to take on some of the work. 

3. You’re working lots of overtime 

Even if you don’t feel overly stressed, spending your leisure time on work is likely to cause problems in the long run. If your busy schedule doesn’t eventually harm your physical or mental health, it could damage your family or social life. 

Whether you enjoy having full control of the business, take pride in perfectionism or simply struggle to finish on time, it’s worth reviewing your workload and considering employee recruitment. You may be reluctant, but it should help you gain a better work/life balance.  

4. You need help with a particular area of business

Perhaps there’s an add-on service you’d like to offer customers, or a trend you’d like to tap into. Or maybe you often outsource a certain task or refer to experts for guidance. If you notice a gap in your knowledge or in your business offering, why not consider taking on a part- or full-time employee to do the job on an ongoing basis? 

5. Your performance or the quality of your products or customer service is slipping

Noticing lower sales figures or negative business reviews can be a huge blow, especially if you feel like you’re putting everything you’ve got into your unit. But the problem may be an indicator that you’re taking on too much - and, if this is the case, you should be able to resolve it by hiring employees. 

Unfortunately, if you keep trying to manage everything by yourself, you may find your energy levels dip, your reputation is affected and your performance gets even worse. You should really aim to give each customer the time and attention they deserve. 

Early on, I realised that I had to hire people smarter and more qualified than I was in a number of different fields.

– Howards Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks

6. You’re craving a better work/life balance

People often feel guilty about wishing they had more free time, but if work is affecting your family life or your mental or physical health, you need to slow down. After all, the prospect of improving your work/life balance was probably one of the main reasons you chose to become a franchisee in the first place. 

Don’t ignore your frustrations at working late; take the time to review the situation and decide whether or not you need to hire someone to take some of the burden.

7. You’re planning to expand into a new location 

Some franchisees make the decision to operate a second business unit alongside their existing business without taking on any staff to help manage the workload - which can be a mistake. Try to evaluate the amount of work involved in the expansion project and whether you’ll need to hire employees. You could appoint staff to handle day-to-day issues or admin, leaving you time to monitor performance and plan for the future.

8. You’re struggling to plan for business growth 

If you’re working flat out at your highest level of efficiency, you’ll probably find it difficult to build on your current achievements and increase your profitability. So, if you’re frustrated at your business’s slow growth, it could be worth bringing in an extra pair of hands. 

9. A new recruit could generate more income than their salary 

One of the biggest obstacles to recruiting new staff is working out whether they would add value to the business. You’ll need to determine how many hours of work you could provide on an ongoing basis, and whether their salary would be covered by the income those projects would generate.

10. Your business is bringing in consistent revenue 

It’s all very well thinking you could do with an extra pair of hands every so often, but you must be able to pay an employee’s salary every month. Review your financial statements to make sure you can reliably take on a staff member. It’s no good scraping by; you must be able to comfortably afford the monthly expense while retaining working capital on top.

Growing a franchise business

Ready to grow your business? You can find more information on how to recruit employees for your franchise unit and how to make the right choices when hiring staff here at Point Franchise. You’ll also find a wealth of franchising guides on a huge range of different topics in our article catalogue, starting with our most recent publications.