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Category: Build a Better Business

How to Respond to Bad Reviews of Your Small Business on Yelp & Google

Online reviews provide a forum for customers to share their experiences with a business. Which is outstanding if you have positive reviews, but if customers are posting bad reviews it can hurt your business.

You can’t remove bad reviews from online review sites like Yelp and Google; and you shouldn’t want to! Trying to remove bad reviews, no matter how untrue or unfair they are, shows that you aren’t able to take criticism. It also makes it look like you aren’t willing to be honest and open about your company. Instead of trying to get bad reviews removed, learn how to respond to them.

Use the following tips to respond to bad reviews.

Apologize to the Reviewers for a Bad Experience

You never want your customers to have a bad interaction with your business, but eventually it’s bound to happen. When you are responding to reviews the best thing you can do is acknowledge your customer’s dissatisfaction and apologize for it. This doesn’t mean you are taking all the blame for the situation. You’re just apologizing that they didn’t enjoy your services. A simple, “I’m so sorry you had a bad experience.” shows that you care about your customers.

Nothing turns the mood from anger to understanding quicker than seeing a small business owner show humility. A simple apology can help you change the mind of a disgruntled customer, or (and perhaps better yet) it can change the mind of a new customer who saw that despite a customer’s bad experience the business owner went out of their way to try to right the situation.

Address Specific Points of Bad Reviews

Have you ever been in an argument where the person you’re arguing with just keeps listing things you’ve done that upset them? That’s basically what’s happening when people are reviewing your business online. They’re mad about something and boy, do they let you know what went wrong!

When a reviewer starts to list the ways you’ve upset them, start taking notes. These points will give you concrete issues to address in your response. Try to address each point that your reviewer mentioned. In your response, you’ll want to do the following things:

  • Thank your reviewer for letting you know where issues are in your business.
  • Let the reviewer know how you are, or are planning, to address the issue.
  • Explain what may have caused the issue and again, explain how you plan to fix it.
  • Offer an olive branch. This doesn’t mean you need to pay them back for their bad experience, but offer to have them visit your business again and give you a second chance.
  • Give the reviewer a way to reach you. This shows that you are sincere in wanting to fix their bad experience.

Try to Resolve the Issue

Bad reviews can easily offend small business owners. Especially, when that review is unfair or a down right lie. However, if you can change your perspective and take the bad review as constructive criticism, then you can change a bad reviews into an opportunity to improve your business. If the reviewer mentioned a legitimate issue within your business, you must take their advice and make a change.

Like we mentioned in the previous point, you need to tell your customers how you are addressing their concerns. This validates the customer and lets him or her know that you are always striving to improve. When a customer sees that a business is doing their best and wants to improve, it can change their perception of the business. This means that you can turn a negative review into a positive one. If a customer sees your response and is impressed with you, they may edit or even remove their review. It never hurts to try and change the mind of a customer who had a bad experience.

Now that you have a few tools to respond to bad reviews you can combat those internet trolls. Just keep in mind that a constant stream of bad reviews can be indicative of a deeper issue for your business. However, if you occasionally have a bad review, then it is probably an isolated incident, and now, you know how to deal with that.

 

Positive Work Environment

How to Create a Positive Work Environment

Creating a positive work environment is a great way to draw better employees to your business. If your employees feel valued, they take pride in being part of a successful business.

We’re going in depth on five ways to help your employees feel more valued in our How to Create A Successful Business series. Click on each title to read the full article.

Acknowledge Success

When you’ve worked hard on a project, nothing feels better than having someone acknowledge your success. A simple compliment can help you feel appreciated and valued and can even increase your productivity in the future.

Employees, especially millennials, are driven by positive encouragement. One of the biggest issues with employee-employer relationships is that employees don’t feel valued. These simple tips can help you, as a boss or manager, make your workplace better for your employees, just by acknowledging their success or hard work.

Offer Developmental Opportunities

Great employees are a critical part of creating the business of your dreams. But you don’t get great employees without a little bit of effort. You can draw in great employees if you offer developmental opportunities.

In order to keep great employees you, as a business owner, need to provide opportunities for your employees to grow and develop new skills. You can help develop employees to be the future leaders of your company.

Encourage Employee Feedback

Employee feedback is an important aspect of creating a positive work environment. In order to thrive, employees need to know how you view their performance and they need to know that they have a voice within the company.

As a boss, you need to create a work environment where employees can give and receive constructive criticism, without getting offended.

Put Employees First

Employees are the lifeblood of your business; however, they’re constantly fighting for that recognition. Employers don’t put employee first; customers, management and boards all come before employees. By putting employees on the bottom of the totem pole, many companies are hurting their profits.

 

 

How to Create a Positive Work Environment

How to Create a Positive Work Environment: Put Employees First

 

Businesses Put Management First

Employees are the lifeblood of your business; however, they’re constantly fighting for that recognition. Employers don’t put employee first; customers, management and boards all come before employees. By putting employees last on the totem pole, many companies are hurting their profits.

Businesses Put Customers First

Many business owners set up their business model with a focus on the customer. It makes sense, if customers are happy, then they’ll recommend you to other people and your business will grow.

It makes sense to put the customer first, but business owners often forget to take the middleman into account. Employees are the face of your company. They’re the ones interacting with your customers. You want them to be singing your praises to your customers.

Customers also enjoy getting to know your team. they notice when there is a lot of turnover and they start to question how great a company can be if they can’t seem to keep employees around.

Instead of putting your customer’s needs above your employees, put your employees first. Treat them well. Show them you care. If they feel taken care of, then they’ll take care of your customers.

Businesses Put Management First

There is often a divide between management and employees. Even when management works closely with their employees they don’t always see the divide.

Members of management are invested in the company. Their pay and benefits are different from the employees below them, so they have a lot more reason to be invested in the company. Usually, management believes that they are taking care of their employees, but employees don’t see things the same way.

In order to put the employee’s needs first, you should foster an environment that encourages feedback. Employees should feel like they can talk with management and make suggestions that could help. If your employees feel they can’t talk about issues without being punished, then you’re creating a terrible work environment and it could lead to a lot of employee turnover.

Businesses Put Management First

Businesses Should Put Employees First

When employees feel used or unappreciated they don’t perform to the best of their ability. Instead of putting your employee’s needs on the back burner put them first. Make sure they are taken care of and then watch everything else fall into place.

Read the other posts in this series:

Encourage Employee Feedback

Offer Developmental Opportunities

Acknowledge Success

How to Create a Positive Work Environment: Encourage Employee Feedback

Employee feedback is an important aspect of creating a positive work environment. In order to thrive, employees need to know how you view their performance and they need to know that they have a voice within the company.

The following tips can help you foster an environment where your employees can take and receive constructive criticism.

Hold Employee Reviews

The first part of encouraging feedback is to set the precedence. Hold review opportunities where you can discuss how your employees are doing. Be sure to praise their good work, but also don’t be afraid to give constructive criticism. A good employee will be open to constructive criticism because they’ll want to improve.

Another great way to show your employees you care is to ask about their goals both professionally and personally. When you show your employees that you care about them, they will feel valued and will treat you and your business with more respect.

Be Open to Employee Feedback

During the performance reviews allow your employees to tell you what is working or not working for them. A lot of times employees are able to see issues with day to day operations that you don’t see.

Listen to the concerns of your team members. Ask them for solutions to the problems they see. Do not get offended when they tell you that something isn’t working. When you are open to hearing constructive criticism of your business you can make it a better place to work.

How to Effectively Give Feedback to Your Employees

Because giving and receiving feedback can be a touchy subject it’s important to make sure you address it in the best way. Here are a few do’s and don’t’s of employee feedback.

Do

  • Compliment efforts of your employees
  • Set clear expectations; that way your employees know what they need to do to succeed.
  • Ask for solutions to problems.
  • Hold your employees accountable for what you have discussed.
  • Follow up with employees after they’ve voiced a concern. Sometimes they are wrong about something, but let them know you looked into their issues.

Don’t

  • Get mad when employees express how they feel. Your employees are trying to improve your business, not demean it (or you.)
  • Ignore suggestions. Take all employee feedback and suggestions as sincere ways to help your company.
  • Wait for formal reviews to give feedback. Let employees know how they’re doing on a regular basis.
  • Use performance reviews as a way to put down employees. Make reviews a positive experience.
  • Don’t give negative feedback in front of other employees. It doesn’t help foster a positive work environment if you’re critical of employees in front of each other. Instead, give compliments around others and critique privately.

Keep in mind that 69 percent of employees say they would work harder if their work was recognized. By giving and accepting employee feedback you can improve the atmosphere of your business.

Read the other posts in this series:

Put Employees First

Offer Developmental Opportunities

Acknowledge Success

How to Create a Positive Work Environment: Offer Developmental Opportunities

offer developmental opportunities

Great employees are a critical part of creating the business of your dreams. But you don’t get great employees without a little bit of effort. You can draw in great employees if you offer developmental opportunities.

A great employee is driven. He is hard-working and strives to exceed expectations. A great employee is happy. She works to improve herself so she can improve the company.

In order to keep great employees you, as a business owner, need to provide opportunities for your employees to grow and develop new skills.

Offer Growth Opportunities

The number one complaint that employees have about moving forward in their careers is that their companies don’t provide opportunities to move up in the company.

If you have a great employee, then do your best to keep them. Offer them growth in their current position or allow them to move to another position where they will exceed. You can create loyal, hard working leaders who are incredibly invested in your company’s success. The outside hire should be your last option.

Offer Educational Opportunities

One of the more obvious ways of offering developmental opportunities for your employees is to help them with continuing education.

If an employee shows a lot of potential, but doesn’t have the education needed to fill a certain position, offer to help pay for schooling. It’s a great way to show employees that you are invested in them and then they become more invested in your company. Just make sure that you work up an agreement stating that the employee will continue with your company after they finish school.

Paying for your employees to attend conferences or seminars that support their positions is another way you can offer development opportunities. Conferences and seminars are also a great way to get employees excited about their jobs. Most likely, they’ll come back more energized and more productive. It’s a win-win for you and your employee.

You may even be able to count educational opportunities as tax deductions; just check with your accountant first.

Offer Networking Opportunities

Creating networking opportunities sounds like it’s a way for other business owners to poach your employees; however, it’s actually a great way to broaden your circle of influence.

As you’re working to offer developmental opportunities, you should let your employees lead. Allow them to get out in front of other business professionals and encourage them to build a network of people that they can work with. Once they’re on their own they’ll learn to build relationships that can benefit the entire company.

creates a better employee

 

When you see your employees networking and promoting your company make sure you acknowledge it and encourage them. That will help them feel more confident, which in turn creates a better employee.

Read the other posts in this series:

Put Employees First

Encourage Employee Feedback

Acknowledge Success

FAQs: Attracting and Retaining Great Employees

Why are great employees critical to creating a successful business?

Great employees drive business success by working hard, striving to exceed expectations, and continuously improving themselves and the company. Their dedication and productivity are essential for achieving business goals.

What can business owners do to retain great employees?

Business owners can retain great employees by providing opportunities for growth and development. This includes offering chances for career advancement, educational support, and professional networking.

How can offering educational opportunities benefit employees and the company?

Offering educational opportunities, such as paying for schooling, conferences, or seminars, shows employees that the company is invested in their growth. This investment often leads to increased loyalty, energy, and productivity, benefiting both the employee and the company.

What is the importance of networking opportunities for employees?

Networking opportunities allow employees to build relationships and broaden their circle of influence, which can benefit the company. Encouraging employees to network can boost their confidence and improve their ability to promote and represent the company effectively.

How can companies ensure that educational opportunities are mutually beneficial?

Companies can create agreements that employees will remain with the company for a certain period after completing their education. This ensures that the investment in their education benefits both the employee and the company, fostering a loyal and skilled workforce.

Acknowledge Success

How to Create a Positive Work Environment: Acknowledge Success

 

 

When you’ve worked hard on a project, nothing feels better than having someone acknowledge your success. A simple compliment can help you feel appreciated and valued and can even increase your productivity in the future.

Employees, especially millennials, are driven by positive encouragement. One of the biggest issues with employee-employer relationships is that employees don’t feel valued. These simple tips can help you, as a boss or manager, make your workplace better for your employees, just by acknowledging their success or hard work.

Change Company Attitudes

If you want to create a positive work environment, then the first thing you need to do is change your or your company’s attitude. If you view your employees’ hard work as “just doing their jobs” then you’re going to have a lot of uninspired, unappreciated employees. Instead of seeing your employees’ perseverance as “just doing their job” look at what they’re helping you accomplish.

Every time an employee goes above and beyond, you win. You get a little bit closer to your dreams because your employees are working hard. Acknowledging success isn’t a weakness on your part. It’s a way to make your business more successful.

Reward Hard Work

When an employee goes above or beyond what is asked, show your appreciation through a reward. You can set up a system with rewards as employees hit certain marks, or give a reward when a particular employee is doing a great job and you want them, and their coworkers, to acknowledge their success.

Here are a few ideas for rewards

  • Certificates: It’s simple easy and really only costs the price of paper and ink.
  • Gift Cards: A $10 gift card to a local hot spot is fairly inexpensive but shows you really do appreciate hard work.
  • Cash: A little bonus on a paycheck is great, but so is a Visa card.
  • Food: If you want to recognize your team’s success then go with food. It’s easy to have lunch for your team or company catered.
  • Company swag: You probably have promotional items sitting around, so give some to your employees when they’ve earned it. Just keep in mind that a promotional frisbee, probably doesn’t show how well they’re doing. Think of something that’s actually useful.

Pay Compliments

A reward is a great way to acknowledge milestones, but it may be too much on a day-to-day basis. The easiest thing you can do as an employer is to pay your team compliments.

Paying someone a compliment helps in numerous ways.

  • Increases confidence: When an employee is unsure of how well they might be doing it can cause them to make more mistakes. Compliment them on their job and give them the confidence to succeed.
  • Boosts productivity: Employees who receive compliments on their efforts are more likely to continue to work hard. On the opposite side, when employees work hard but never receive praise they feel unappreciated and begin to slack off.
  • Builds trust: Complementing people helps show that you care and when your employees know that you care they’re willing to talk to you when they face a problem, instead of trying to place blame on someone else.
  • Create positivity: If you’re working to build a positive work environment then create a culture of complimenting. When you compliment your employees, they’ll begin to compliment the coworkers. A team that gets along and looks for the good in those around them will automatically create a great working environment.

There are even studies that show paying your employees compliments can be as effective as offering a cash incentives.

 

Read the other posts in this series:

Put Employees First

Encourage Employee Feedback

Offer Developmental Opportunities

 

 

Employees, especially millennials, are motivated to work harder for you when you acknowledge their success and show your appreciation for them.
Build a Better Business

Build a Better Business

build a better business with effective strategies
We want you to succeed in your business ventures. To make that happen, we’ve compiled a series of tutorials on simple ways to build your business. We’ll talk you through your marketing and advertising strategies, hiring and firing employees, effective communication in the workplace, business etiquette, operations, human resources, and of course, accounting. Check out each of the articles in our “Build a Better Business” series to grow your business into a thriving enterprise.

Improve Your Online Presence Part 1: 8 Steps for Reviewing Your Website

Most people will learn about your business online, so you need to make sure that your website up to date. A great website is user friendly, helpful and interesting enough to draw people in. Check out our list of to-do’s to make sure your website is an asset to your business.

Improve Your Online Presence Part 2: Perform a Quarterly Social Media Audit

Social media is essential to marketing and customer service. It’s important to do a social media audit to make sure your information is up to date and that your customers can contact you through it.  Planning out content for your social media platforms is another sure-fire way to make sure you don’t neglect it.

Improve Your Online Presence Part 3: Contact Information & Review Sites

Over the life of your business, your web presence increases. It’s important to make sure that your contact information is always up to date so that people can find your business. It’s fairly simple to make sure your website is up to date, but what about the other places your information can be found online?

4 Low Cost and Low Risk Ways to Grow Your Team

Growing your team can seem like a costly and stressful venture, but we’ve outlined 4 ways you can add people to your team without spending a lot of money.

Planning Your Summer Marketing Efforts Part 1: Who, What, When, and Where

Summer is a great time for marketing because there are a lot of events you can attend in order to spread the word about your business. It’s a great time to get out and meet your community. So take stock of the who, what, when, and where of your marketing.

Planning Your Summer Marketing Efforts Part 2: Celebrating Holiday and Events

While summer holidays may mean that your team is in the office less, it’s still a great time to take full advantage of marketing! Use summer celebrations as a way to do a promotion or giveaway. Because people are busier you can also increase your correspondence with your clients. Remind them how you can help out while they’re busy spending time with their friends and families!

Planning Your Summer Marketing Efforts Part 3: Cheap Advertising Tips

You’ve pumped money and man power into your marketing campaigns through attending events and giving away swag. Now it’s time to pull in the reigns and save some money while still boosting your advertising.

How To Attract the Right Talent For Your Company

Employees can make or break your business. Like we mentioned in 4 Low Cost and Low Risk Ways to Grow Your Team, it’s important to get the right fit before you hire anyone. These tips will help you make sure that you’re hiring the right people the first time.

Quick Money Management Tips to Build Your Business

If you want to get a better handle on your finances this is the best place to start. With simple steps you can remove the gray areas from your business finances.

Plan for Holiday Success by Hiring Seasonal Employees

The holiday season can be the busiest time for small businesses. While you may not be able to afford another full-time employee, you could definitely use some help around the busiest time of the year. Here are a few best practices to make sure you’re going about it the right way.

How to Create a Succession Plan for Your Small Business

Sure, your small business may be your life right now, but what about when it’s time to move on to something bigger and better? Set up a succession plan now so that your baby is always taken care of.

How to Protect Your Small Business from Theft

Theft can come from many angles, and it happens to more than just brick-and-mortar businesses. Learn how to protect your business from all types of theft.

How to Protect Your Small Business From Theft

Theft is a major issue for both online and brick-and-mortar businesses
Theft is a major issue for both online and brick-and-mortar businesses. Some types of theft have been around for ages, while new attacks are always popping up, especially due to the Internet. It’s important to protect your business, yourself and your employees from any type of theft. Shoplifting, employee fraud and online threats are the most common types of theft in businesses. Continue reading to learn what to look for and how to prevent these types of theft.

Shoplifting

Shoplifting is the most common type of theft brick-and-mortar shops face. While it’s virtually impossible to eliminate shoplifting there are ways you can decrease it. Keeping an organized store is a great tool because you can easy to notice when something is missing. It’s also critical to train your employees to be on the lookout for shoplifters. These are some common places shoplifters hide merchandise:

  • Shopping bags from another store
  • Bags or purses
  • Strollers
  • Umbrellas
  • Clothing, especially large coats

Security measures like installing cameras can help you spot shoplifters and stop them before you lose anything. For more inexpensive ideas on preventing shoplifting check out this article.

Employee fraud

When you bring employees into your business you’d like to believe they would have you and your business’ best interests at heart, but that isn’t always the case. The best way to stop employee theft is to have a thorough hiring process that not only gives you an idea of someone’s skills but shows their level of integrity. No matter how well you interview your potential employees, those who are going to commit fraud are usually skilled liars and may trick you into thinking they are trustworthy.

A 2014 study on fraud and abuse by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) warned employers to look for certain red-flag behaviors. The first tip was to listen for employees who are boasting about living above his or her means because they may be taking home more than what you’re paying them. On the flip side, employees who are constantly talking about their financial hardship may be looking for a way to bring in more money, even if they have to do it through theft.

Shopping bags from another store

Online Threats

Businesses in any sector are liable to online threats. In fact, in 2015 43 percent of all cyber attacks targeted small businesses. Most hackers send an email asking for the user to enter information, click on a link or download a file. When the user does any of these things it gives hackers access to the server and allows them to steal money or even personal information. Data breaches also affect your employees and customers, so it is crucial to keep your information safe.

The best way to combat online attacks is, again, through training. Teaching your employees what to look for and that they shouldn’t open, click through or download any type of suspicious email is the first step. Most hackers will target the employee over finances for the company. Make sure whoever is in that position has special training and is especially careful about what emails they open. You should also create an action plan on how your company deals with any attacks.

There are different laws and regulations on what to do if your business has a data breach. Learn more about what you are required to do and the best practices if you are hacked here.

Other posts that might interest you

Improve Your Online Presence Part 1: 8 Steps for Reviewing Your Website

Improve Your Online Presence Part 2: Perform a Quarterly Social Media Audit

Improve Your Online Presence Part 3: Contact Information & Review Sites

4 Low Cost and Low Risk Ways to Grow Your Team

Planning Your Summer Marketing Efforts Part 1: Who, What, When, and Where

Planning Your Summer Marketing Efforts Part 2: Celebrating Holiday and Events

Planning Your Summer Marketing Efforts Part 3: Cheap Advertising Tips

How To Attract the Right Talent For Your Company

Quick Money Management Tips to Build Your Business

Plan for Holiday Success by Hiring Seasonal Employees

How to Create a Succession Plan for Your Small Business

Your business is always vulnerable to theft from employees, shoplifters or cyber hackers. Check out these tips to protect you and your business no matter where the threat comes from.,/div>

Create a Succession Plan for Your Small Business

How to Create a Succession Plan for Your Small Business

Your small business is up and running with a bright future. You’ve decided to go full force with it and make long-term plans. But you know as well as any other small business owner that things don’t always go as anticipated. Wise entrepreneurs know that a well-developed succession plan can ease the future changes of an evolving business.

What is a Succession Plan?

A succession plan is a written plan for the future of the business. Specifically, it outlines who and how one leader will replace another within the company. Positions of leadership are often filled internally with people who have the potential to improve upon their current position and assume a leadership role.

While it may seem too far out to worry about right now, how you exit your business in the future reveals the character and effectiveness of your business as a whole. Even if you plan to work until the day you die and hand your business down the family line, you’ll still want a plan in place to make the transitions go as smoothly as possible. It’s especially important to have a succession plan in place in the event of a tragedy or unexpected death. What if you had a heart attack tomorrow? What would the future of your business look like?

How to Create a Succession Plan for Your Small Business

  • Assess internal candidates first. A strong succession planning program identifies future leaders within the company and prepares them through mentoring, training, and assignments that stretch them. A study from Booz Allen Hamilton concluded that “over their entire tenures, CEOs appointed from the inside tend to outperform outsiders” when it comes to returns to shareholders.
  • Develop a written criteria for your ideal candidate.  Which characteristics are the “must haves” and which are the “nice to haves”? Try to view your internal candidates as objectively as possible as you run through your written criteria. Obviously your replacement should have strong leadership and organizational skills, but what else? Dig deep as you develop your list.
  • Consider all stakeholders. As you are creating a succession plan for your small business, consider how a change in the leadership will affect the other employees that work for you, as well as your business partner if you have one. Ponder these questions as you create your succession plan:
    • Is there an emergency candidate who could take the reigns if you were to leave tomorrow?
    • Is the company organized enough to ease the transition of a new leader?
    • Is there a seasoned leader in place who is willing to coach a potential successor?
  • Put your succession plan into practice now. Most business owners make it this far and then stop. Your succession plan should be more than a static list of names in your file cabinet. Start preparing your successors now for the future. There is no such thing as a “ready now” candidate; all will need mentoring and training to assume a leadership role. Assign your potential successors tasks that will stretch them, challenge them, and give them responsibility to make important decisions within the company.
  • Refresh as needed. Your succession plan should be a living document that is changed and modified as market conditions and/or strategy change. It should go beyond the traditional position description and delve deeply into both the competencies and experiences required for the next leader. The succession plan can then be used as a tool in grading succession candidates objectively.

Plan for Your Small Business

When in doubt, consult a professional. An accountant or attorney can provide a fresh, objective viewpoint and can advise you on the potential profitability of certain candidates. You can even screen candidates formally with stress tests, aptitude tests, and specific challenges. Creating a solid succession plan now can help ease the transition of changing roles later on.

Other posts that might interest you

Improve Your Online Presence Part 1: 8 Steps for Reviewing Your Website

Improve Your Online Presence Part 2: Perform a Quarterly Social Media Audit

Improve Your Online Presence Part 3: Contact Information & Review Sites

4 Low Cost and Low Risk Ways to Grow Your Team

Planning Your Summer Marketing Efforts Part 1: Who, What, When, and Where

Planning Your Summer Marketing Efforts Part 2: Celebrating Holiday and Events

Planning Your Summer Marketing Efforts Part 3: Cheap Advertising Tips

How To Attract the Right Talent For Your Company

Quick Money Management Tips to Build Your Business

Plan for Holiday Success by Hiring Seasonal Employees

How to Protect Your Small Business from Theft

Hiring Seasonal Employees

Plan for Holiday Success by Hiring Seasonal Employees

If your small business is one that gets especially busy during the holiday season, you can plan for success early by hiring seasonal employees. You might be surprised at how a little extra help can boost sales, increase profits, and make your life as a business owner less hectic during an already busy time of year. Here are a few rules that apply when hiring seasonal employees:

  • All labor laws still apply. Laws that cover harassment, discrimination, and workplace health and safety apply to seasonal workers just as they do to any other employee. If you’re not familiar with these, this Employment and Labor Law Guide for small businesses is a good reference point.
  • Consider hiring seasonal employees as contractors. If you’re running an online business and need some help managing your blog or social media accounts, you can hire an independent contractor without actually making them an employee. A contractor normally works as a less  supervised member of your team. Keep in mind, you hire a contractor to do a job for you, but they are not technically your employee. As such, you aren’t required to provide benefits, withhold tax/Medicare/Social Security, or pay unemployment taxes. You also can’t dictate the hours the contractor works. However, you are required to report compensation of $600 or more to the IRS (more on this here). Be sure to outline the details and length of the contract before work begins.
  • You still have to withhold taxes. Despite popular opinion, seasonal employees should not be paid “under the table,” even if you’re just paying them to hang Christmas lights. Part-time and seasonal employees are subject to the same tax withholding rules as the rest of your employees. For details on your tax reporting responsibilities, refer to IRS regulations on part-time or seasonal help.
  • You may want to use a talent management company. These companies can save you big time and money by screening potential employees, taking care of the HR work, and making sure you hire the right fit for your company, even if it’s only for a season.
  • Use the same HR process as your other employees. Don’t be tempted to hire an employee in haste and throw them out on the sales floor on November 15th. Take some time to onboard the employee by offering early training and opportunities for them when things are slow. Additionally, it’s best to follow the same HR hiring process with a seasonal employee as it is a long-term employee.

Whether you’re running a brick and mortar shop, an online business, or offering services of some sort, the holidays are normally a busy time of year. Start the process of hiring seasonal employees early to ensure a seamless start to the holiday season.

Other posts that might interest you

Improve Your Online Presence Part 1: 8 Steps for Reviewing Your Website

Improve Your Online Presence Part 2: Perform a Quarterly Social Media Audit

Improve Your Online Presence Part 3: Contact Information & Review Sites

4 Low Cost and Low Risk Ways to Grow Your Team

Planning Your Summer Marketing Efforts Part 1: Who, What, When, and Where

Planning Your Summer Marketing Efforts Part 2: Celebrating Holiday and Events

Planning Your Summer Marketing Efforts Part 3: Cheap Advertising Tips

How To Attract the Right Talent For Your Company

Quick Money Management Tips to Build Your Business

How to Create a Succession Plan for Your Small Business

How to Protect Your Small Business from Theft

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Vyde is a licensed accounting firm (CPA) based in Provo, Utah, and members of the AICPA. We provide professional accounting services to businesses and individuals, with a focus on small business bookkeeping and taxes.

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