Outside of one-man or one-woman businesses, employees are the lifeblood of the small business world. Unless they have no desire to increase the size of the business, most business owners will reach a point where they cannot continue without help. When it comes time to hire employees, the value of a solid team cannot be overstated. The employees will become the business. It is a must to be able to trust them to deliver the print quality you expect, and to make the most of your time and money. So, when hunting for employees, there are several qualities that you should seek out.
The first consideration when hiring should be finding people whose skill sets fit your decoration business needs. Now, if you have enough work that is applicable to dedicate an employee solely to one type of task (like screen printing or shipping orders), then you should make that skill set your priority. However, for a small decoration business it will usually make sense to hire “utility players.” In baseball, a utility player is one who can play multiple positions effectively, giving the manager versatility in how he organizes his team. The principle is similar in the business world. Having employees who can handle multiple tasks will often save money. As a small decoration business, you may not have enough position-specific work available to keep multiple employees busy. However, if you have one or two employees who can handle different tasks, then you can actually increase your employees’ efficiency by decreasing the number of employees.
When you hire employees, you want to hire not only complementary skill sets, but also complementary personalities. Your goal should be to avoid turnover and build a team that can work together effectively. Constantly training and dealing with the growing pains of new employees is a drain on both the business owner and the business as a whole. Product quality especially will suffer if the business has problems with turnover. Many printing processes take time to perfect, so losing a quality printer can set your business back. So, it is wise to have a probationary period for new workers to ensure that they can fit into your workforce.
In a decoration business, there are several different positions you need to fill. First of all, you need a production staff. The production staff includes printers, shippers, and other jobs related to the production of your products. Also, you need customer service representatives to handle customer needs like ordering, payments, and complaints. If your business reaches a size where you are unable to oversee operations, then you will need to hire managers to run the operations of various departments. It is especially important that you are able to work closely with your managers so that they can relay your vision of the business to your employees.
In addition to production and customer service, there are a few other areas of the business that can either be performed in-house or by outsourcing. Either choose to have your marketing outsourced or hire your own marketers. Either way, you need quality marketing to be successful as the decoration industry is a fairly saturated market. Work with a local firm, if possible, as they will have the experience and knowledge of your local market to maximize your marketing value.
Much like marketing, you may want to outsource artwork. Having full-time artists can be expensive, especially if you do not have a consistent amount of work for them to perform. HR and payroll services can be outsourced to accounting firms, or even performed with software. If you are looking to outsource simpler services, then Fiverr.com is an excellent resource. On Fiverr you can find artists, marketers, copywriters and more, all offering their services starting at $5. It is not recommended to use Fiverr as an integral part of your business, but it can be cheaper and more effective than asking more of employees who will not be as talented as those on Fiverr.
The difficulty in managing employees begins with the hiring process. There are things that you just cannot ask a prospective employee. For instance, their religion, sexual orientation, marital status, race, or political affiliation. Asking these sorts of questions can be used as evidence of discrimination in the hiring process. The easiest way to avoid these issues is to hire employees based on their qualifications and fit with your business. Once you have decided to hire an employee, the real work begins.
To hire employees, you will have to consider federal, state, and sometimes local requirements. Let us start with federal employment requirements. First, you will need to apply for workers’ compensation insurance. Then, you will need to request form SS-4 from the IRS, which is an application for an Employer ID number. In addition to the SS-4, you will need a W-4, which is an Employees Withholding Allowance Certificate, from the IRS. Also, you will need to research the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations, which are designed to protect your workforce in the workplace. Find all the applicable information on their website, www.osha.gov. Employers are also required to follow the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Items included in the FLSA include minimum wage, overtime pay, gender equality, and child labor laws. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against disabled peoples and requires employers with 15 or more employees to have certain accommodations for disabled employees. If your business has over 20 employees, then it must follow the Age Discrimination Employment Act (ADEA), which also falls under OSHA’s authority.
Some states require you to register for a separate state employer identification number. States then mandate that you fill out a New Hire Report within approximately the first 30 days after hiring an employee and submit it to the state employment office. Certain states, and even cities, have their own minimum wage, higher than the federal minimum. The majority of states also require unemployment insurance that is separate from federal unemployment insurance. It is a federal requirement to have workers’ compensation insurance, but you must comply with your state laws and statutes when implementing it. Contact your state workers’ compensation board for more information.
Once you have handled the legal requirements for employees, it is important to consider a few other legal matters related to your business. Trademarks, copyrights, and patents, for example. Each of these is a different type of protection for a certain aspect of your business against unauthorized usage of your brand, products, or processes. Simply by creating your trademark you are granted basic rights. In order to receive complete trademark protection you must register your trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office or a state trademark office. However, if you register but do not utilize your trademark for over two years, then your rights to it will expire. It is also important to note that trademark law applies to the internet. If you register a domain that is quite like an existing trademark, then you may be forced to cease using it by the trademark holder.
Patents are legal protection provided to the inventors of physical products that prohibit others from making or selling that invention without your consent. A patent is a legal confirmation of the fact that you invented a product, that it is solely your property, and that you are the only one who has the right to use it. There are two types of patents: utility patents and design & plant patents. Utility patents protect the invention of a new machine, product, or a significant improvement of an existing product or machine. A design & plant patent protects the appearance of a product or machine, but not the functionality. Design & plant patents also protect new breeds of plants. Utility and plant patents last for 20 years, and design patents last 14 years. The patenting process can be expensive and paperwork-heavy, but extremely valuable if you have something truly worth protecting.
In addition to understanding how to use these protections to secure your rights, it is important to also consider how your business can avoid infringing on any trademarks, copyrights, or patents. The easiest way to avoid any legal issues is to refuse to print any questionable artwork. If you believe that any artwork you receive might be stolen or protected, then it is better to be safe and refuse to print it than to risk a lawsuit. If you do print artwork that infringes on someone else’s trademark or copyright, then you will likely first receive a cease and desist letter before any further legal action is taken. A cease and desist letter is sent to a company to stop it from performing an illegal activity (cease), and to refrain from repeating said activity in the future (desist). Cease and desist letters should be taken seriously. No single print job is worth risking your entire business. The Ohio State University, for instance, is a major brand that has a history of being fairly litigious. One company that ignored multiple cease and desist letters regarding the printing of OSU-owned trademarks and copyrights had to lay off over half of its workforce as a result of losing a court battle against the school.
Starting a decoration business is not as simple as printing garments and selling them. In addition to production, there are many other factors essential to the startup and daily operations of a business. This is especially true when your business has employees. Be prepared to deal with legals matters of all sorts, from handling your employees to dealing with trademark and copyright laws. These aspects of the business cannot be ignored as ignorance is no defense when facing legal matters related to employment or infringement. It is important to understand every aspect of the business, but understanding your HR and legal requirements will allow you to protect your business and prevent you from making extremely costly mistakes.
