Scott Wilson Entrepreneur

I m looking to grow my business over the next several years and have concerns regarding the best approach to take with regard to hiring. I believe hiring sales and marketing staff would be a better investment initially. Increased sales would provide for increased cash flow. If this is successful I could then hire technical staff and reduce my dependence on sub-contractors.

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I m looking for guidance on hiring and how best to plan for the expense, paperwork, and policies needed when starting out hiring. I talked to my accountant and she indicated a part-time person would cost ~$10K annually with taxes.

Hired four people but am having a hard time retaining and hiring new employees.

Maintain and grow sales

To sell my business in five to ten years and retire.

Illuminating Concepts LLC provides communication and technology solutions for businesses in upstate NY. Our niche is in providing a high-level of customer service to our clients, building personal relationships that last. The specifics include cabling for telephone, computer, and video networks, installation of those products, and ongoing support. We specialize in VoIP and SIP services. Recently we expanded our managed services offering to support and maintain our client’s voice/data networks to improve security and performance.

I started Illuminating Concepts LLC shortly before graduating with my MBA to gain experience starting and managing a startup. I was looking for leadership and management opportunities in my career and found myself creating a company to provide this opportunity. At startup we were focused on e-commerce and managed a world-wide retail operation that lasted until we moved into our current line of business. We have been in our current line of business for over five years and are looking to grow. Currently I perform most functions including bookkeeping, sales, marketing and technical. I contract with two outside people to assist with technical maintenance and support when needed. I m looking to grow the business and believe I m in a position to hire to help with the growth. My thought is to hire a sales and marketing person to help support growth and give me the ability to hire technical staff in the future. I’m looking for assistance taking the next step.