Know-How Exchange : Strategy

It sounds like maybe you have a pricing strategy issue. Very often in a personal service business (like yours) adding staff isn't a great solution. You end up spending more time managing and less time doing what has made you so successful. And you know that nobody can do as good and as conscientious a job as you can. After all, it's YOUR business.

Further, the people you hire will want to make almost as much as you do, so your profit on their work may end up being marginal ... and more than offset by the recruiting, hiring, management and overhead costs you incur.

So maybe the right solution is to start increasing your prices ... not so much as to scare off your customers, but to begin to build some growth/cushion into your current profit structure. Perhaps an average increase of 5-7% per year, and maybe selectively (depending on your service portfolio).

This will have two effects: First, it will increase your bottom line. And second, it may reduce demand for your services so you don't need to hire additional staff ... or you can simply get an admin assistant to handle the routine office chores, so you can take a day (or two) off every week.

I've had several employees and I've been a solo practitioner over the years. There are advantages to both. But the ideal solution for me has been to work alone, with part-time admin assistance, and set my prices to a point where I have just the amount of business I can handle myself ... greater income and no management headaches.

Focus on people who can help people you can't, or who offer things you don't. By bringing in people who can replace your services you're bringing competition into your house that might later cause you problems.

Alternatively, can you develop a list of professional referrals (where you receive a referral fee) that can likewise refer people to you?