Hiring Low Cost Employees for Your Small Business

by on June 7, 2013

For the millions of us that run a small business, hiring an employee can be a daunting and intimidating task.  Most businesses start by a sole proprietor or a small group of friends, and at some point the work just gets to be too much.  If you’ve gotten to that point and are ready to take the plunge, then there here are a some ways to find local talent on the cheap.  And if this isn’t what you’re looking for, you can always find free tips on hiring employees from experts in the employment industry.

Check Your Local Listings

By local listings, I mean post an ad on craigslist or whatever local job boards that you have in your area.  This can include actually putting up ads at schools, churches and on neighborhood bulletins.  You may be able to find someone who is looking for work this way too.  Check classifieds and craigslist for jobs wanted or services provided.

Look to the Youth

If you’re looking for someone that is eager to work and appreciative of the pay, AND that you can hire on the cheap, check your local schools.  Of course you can check your local high schools, but any technical or community colleges are better.  And don’t neglect the four year universities and colleges either.  When my blogs became too much for me to handle, I posted an ad on the university job board and got over 20 resumes in the first 2 hours.  Not only are young people eager to work, but they are also much more tech savvy and open to your ideas than others might be.

Check State and Federal Programs

I haven’t done this myself, but I know there are lots of state and federal programs that subsidize specific industries and small businesses.  Check with your local chamber of commerce or other small business advisors to help you find ways to subsidize your expansion.

Offer More Benefits and Less Pay

One of the best ways to get someone to work for you if you can’t offer a lot of money, is to give them other things that they want.  For example, let them work from home a few days a week.  Or maybe you can let them work 30 hour work weeks so they can pick up their kids from school.  It could be 7 weeks of vacation a year.  You could even offer free services that your company offers, or maybe you can even find a barter network in your community that you can trade your products or services for and use as payment.  Everyone has something non-monetary that is important to them.  Find out what it is and offer it to them.

Get Creative

There are many ways to advertise and find talented employees that are much lower cost than others.  Get creative with your methods and brainstorm your ideas with other entrepreneurs to come up with some ideas of your own.

{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

Aayna from backyard make over June 12, 2013 at 2:51 am

The low cost employees can prove to be a great resource for the small business which works on a tight budget. Such employees can be easily reached and their services are as good as the highly paid ones. These employees are working at lower cost as either they are new to the industry or are working for making big. Thanks for the share.

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BackFlip June 13, 2013 at 7:00 pm

This is really good advice. I wouldn’t rule out contracting out some tasks either. You’d be surprised at the number of things that you can buy at Fiverr. I’ve gotten Logos created, ebook covers made, banners designed and more. There are some really talented people on Fiverr. It’s worth checking out.

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Fatima from villa ubud bali June 20, 2013 at 3:04 pm

Youth is the ideal target market to consider when looking for low cost workforce and you can use their skills to your advantage while not having to pay them more at entry level. Great share.

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Dan June 22, 2013 at 10:09 am

it is a good idea to hire young people because they do not have a lot of experience and they can’t really demand a lot of money for their services. Furthermore, as you said you said you could look into state laws and regulations and see what you can do in order to minimize your costs. Thanks fro sharing this with us!

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nafretiti June 26, 2013 at 12:11 pm

Many people forget to look at the youth because they are not experienced, the only way to help them get that experience is to actually give them a chance. Young people are smart and sometimes easily trainable in many things, if they can focus and grow within their learning skills it benefits both your business and them in order to gain the experience that they need. I think more benefits rather then more pay would be a bonus, benefits go further then pay does I believe and so being able to pay them less they won’t mind if the benefits are worth it.

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Jezebella June 26, 2013 at 6:46 pm

These are great suggestions. I remember when I was in college I worked at an ice cream store. The owner always took us to a nice brunch for Christmas, and gave us a giftcard. She also gave us a free scoop of ice cream for every shift we worked. We were college students, and free food for shifts helped keep us loyal even though she wasn’t able to give us huge paychecks. I worked with her the whole time I was in school and still stop in and see her whenever I am in town.

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Henlus June 30, 2013 at 10:09 am

“Offer more benefits and less pay”. I like this strategy a lot. A small business usually don’t have a lot of money to spend, but they always have something valuable that won’t cost them much.

Hiring young people is another good tip one can use. Young people don’t have families to carter for, so they’ll be satisfied with lesser pay. Thanks.

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Simona July 15, 2013 at 7:57 am

The best out of what you`ve listed above is offering people all kinds of benefits and free services to compensate the lack of money. I`ve worked on these terms various times because they offered me the chance to have flexible working hours, without which I could not have been able to work anyway. Great tips, thank you!

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