You say you can't afford the help you'd need to put
together a sound HR system? HR assistance can be had for much less
than you may fear. For starters, some help is available free of
charge. "Small Business Development Centers [SBDCs] can help
you find out what you need to do," says Bill Fioretti,
director of the federally funded SBDC at the University of
Cincinnati.
An SBDC may also be able to point you to local gold mines of
information. In Cincinnati, for instance, the local chamber of
commerce runs a mentoring program where less experienced
entrepreneurs can get free consulting from more seasoned
members-and "often the mentoring focuses on personnel
issues," says Fioretti. He says many other chambers of
commerce nationwide offer similar programs: "Look around, and
you may find much of the assistance you need without
cost."
If your hunt for free advice comes up short, the best step
isn't necessarily hiring in-house HR staff. "Don't
even think about that until you have more than 50 employees,"
says Henderson. What to do instead? Hire an HR consultant-and
expect surprisingly low costs to get your business up to par.
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"[About] $500 should be enough to get a business set up
with the HR basics," says Henderson. She says HR consultants
charge $65 to $150 per hour (regional variations are a big factor,
with the highest fees in cities like Los Angeles and New York
City); in five hours or less, an HR pro should be able to set up
the basic procedures you'll need (such as templates for
personnel records) and fill your ear with the main laws and
regulations that apply to your workplace.
More help will be required as you grow-at around 10 employees,
for instance, it's usually time to hand out an employee manual
drafted by an HR pro-but, says Henderson, "a few HR consulting
hours are enough to get a business off on safe footing."
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