Hiring a Second in Command.

Your business is booming but you’re finding yourself exhausted, overwhelmed and turning down jobs. The day has arrived to hire a second in command.

This week, we spoke to Neil Kent of Chapter Communications and Rob Stevens from Optix Solutions about the hiring of a second from both sides of the story.

So you’ve set up your agency and it’s going well, really well. Maybe even a bit too well… if you’re finding yourself run off your feet, having not enough hours in the day and even turning down work, it’s probably time to start looking for a second in command.

This week, we spoke to Neil Kent of Chapter Communications and Rob Stevens of Optix Solutions who have both been through the process of hiring a second in command but from opposite sides of the equation. Neil brought in a second and Rob was brought in to Optix.

Of course, the big question is going to be – where do I find the right person? And then of course – how do I entice them once I have found them?

Well, you might not need to look as far as you might think. The solution may even be staring you right in the face:

“I actually found Laura, who’s now second in command by freelancing. I just really liked the way that she worked. She was just so reliable.

I managed to keep her freelancing for probably about six, seven months, but just couldn’t afford to employ her at the time. And the money that she wanted at the time, I had to let her go.

That was pretty crushing at the time. When she left then, I said to her:

“As soon as business picks up, I will come after you. You have my word.”

Six months later, I was able to do that.”

Neil brings up a crucial point here – what if we find “the one” but we don’t have a massive budget?

Well money isn’t always the answer to everything. Whilst you do need to pay a fair wage, there are other ways you can entice potential seconds – sharing your vision of the company and their role in that vision – what career progression can they expect? What sort of input will they have in the direction of the business? What training and development with they receive? How about work/life balance and a shared set of values that make for a rewarding workplace?

There are so many ways to find and keep and even hand over to a second in command, let’s not let our fears hold us back