How do I know if I can afford my first employee?

Work out the full cost, including wages, super, leave, insurance and equipment, and compare it with the extra work or time the hire frees up. Your accountant can help you model it. If the numbers only work in a perfect month, wait or start part time.

Should my first hire be an admin person or someone who does the core work?

It depends on where your time is best spent. If you are the best person to win and deliver the work, hiring admin support frees you up. If delivery is the bottleneck, hire for delivery.

What paperwork do I need to hire someone in Australia?

Check the current requirements with the Fair Work Ombudsman, the ATO and business.gov.au. They cover things like the Fair Work Information Statement, tax file number declarations, super and record keeping.

Can a business coach help with hiring?

Yes, with the business side: defining the role, planning the interview process, onboarding and becoming a good leader. Legal and tax questions belong with qualified advisers.

How to Hire Your First Employee in Australia

Your first hire is a big moment. It is the point where the business stops being just you and starts being a business. It is also the hire owners most often rush, because they waited until they were drowning.

Here is a practical way to get it right. For the legal and tax side, the official sources are linked below and are the final word.

Book 15 with Tom

How to know it is time

You are turning work away or delivering it late
Your own time is going on tasks someone else could do well
Growth is stuck because you cannot be in two places
You can afford the cost for at least several months, even in a slow patch

Decide the role before the person

Start from the work, not a job title. List the tasks, the results you need and how you will know they are being achieved. Decide whether you need someone full time, part time or casual, or whether a contractor would do for now. A clear role description saves you from hiring a lovely person into a fuzzy job.

Get the employer basics right

Before anyone starts, check your obligations with the official sources: the Fair Work Ombudsman for awards, pay and conditions, the ATO for tax and super, and business.gov.au for the overall checklist, including workers compensation in your state. When in doubt, ask your accountant or an employment adviser. We are business coaches, not employment lawyers.

Find and choose well

Ask your network first. Referrals from people who know your business often bring better fits.

Interview for the work. Give candidates a small, realistic task or scenario, rather than relying only on how well they interview.

Check references properly. Ask specific questions about the things that matter most in the role.

Hire for attitude and the ability to learn. Skills can be taught. Reliability and care are harder to install.

Set them up to succeed

Plan the first two weeks before day one: what they will learn, who they will meet and what they will deliver. Agree a weekly check in for the first few months. Hand over results, not just tasks, as described in how to delegate as a business owner. The first hire also changes your job, from doing the work to leading someone who does it. That shift is worth some thought.

Bring one business wobble

Fifteen honest minutes with Dr Tom Hitchcock. Bring the problem you cannot quite name. No surprise proposal ambush and no hard sell. If coaching is not the right move, Tom will tell you, and usually point you somewhere useful.