What comes first? Client or Staff?

[Andrew Hill]

So, I'm currently running a one man leaflet distribution business but it's time to branch out. I'm looking into direct sales, as this is where my expertise lie, mainly door to door and event marketing.

I'll be employing salespeople on a self-employed basis, but the question is... do I employ them first and tell them the work is coming or do I find the client first and explain to them that I'm in the process of employing the team?

I have clients in mind, they're big fish but I think I'm as capable of approaching them as I am a small business, either way the potential client has to understand I am in the process of starting up the direct sales business and of course, at first it will be a little bit slow...

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Will the staff qualify as self employed to HMRC

 

[Andrew Hill]

Yes

 

[Gecko001]

Forget about the big client for now and start small.

 

[Andrew Hill]

Yes but which comes fist? Client or staff?

 

[soundengineeruk]

I would say staff, without these people you cannot deliver to the client expectations. However, make sure you give yourself enough room in case they don't pan out.

 

[quikshop]

I would say client, and your sales patter includes the phase "scale up to meet their requirements" which you can do quickly with sales staff. Tough to get a good sales bod on board if there is no actual work?

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Yes

What makes you so sure?

 

[Christophe JD]

I'd say get the clients first, then get the staff. You can even get some temp staff in to cope with any sudden increase in demand. Then it should be easier to get good staff if they can see you have work waiting

 

[boring-friday]

client. I'd just lie though, I don't see telling them they need to wait for you to employ staff going well. Just hire quick after and stick the 14 hour days in for a while

 

[Krystsina]

Hi Andrew,

it is an interesting question! I believe that the client always comes first. Otherwise you will involve people into work that doesn't exist yet, and you might loose these people just because they will be disappointed in your offer. I would suggest you to look for clients and staff at the same time to keep up with both sides. You can find staff who will agree to wait till you get some work for them to do. When you find a client, you can come back to your staff and let them work. Of course, such scheme can't work in case you won't find people who will agree to wait, but I believe that your "type" of people will appear.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

So, I'm currently running a one man leaflet distribution business but it's time to branch out. I'm looking into direct sales, as this is where my expertise lie, mainly door to door and event marketing.

I'll be employing salespeople on a self-employed basis, but the question is... do I employ them first and tell them the work is coming or do I find the client first and explain to them that I'm in the process of employing the team?

I have clients in mind, they're big fish but I think I'm as capable of approaching them as I am a small business, either way the potential client has to understand I am in the process of starting up the direct sales business and of course, at first it will be a little bit slow...

I'd bring in the staff first.

If everything goes pear shaped (i.e. you can't find clients quickly enough) then that's your problem. However, if you do it the other way around (i.e. bring in the clients without the resources to provide the service correctly) then that becomes the client's problem. This is much riskier as it opens you up to bad reviews (or even legal action) before you've even started.

The only situation where I'd bring in the clients first is if you have an absolutely rock solid way to scale up quickly with sufficient resources.

Some will say bring in the clients first, and this method could certainly work well as I'm sure many businesses have done this before. Richard Branson even said that if a good opportunity comes along but you're not sure if you can do it, say yes and then figure out how to do it later. However, this is obviously a much riskier approach, so how much risk you want to take (or are able to take) is up to you.

 

[hilldavenport]

I have to agree with Krystsina. However there is a strategy you can employ in order to get the best of both worlds.

1. Book Leaflet Distribution Campaigns as far in advance as possible. This will allow you some setup time to source distributors and prepare for the door to door jobs.

2. In the first instance (until you are fully up and running) consider leaflet distributors who are self employed. This could allow you to have individuals on an ad-hoc basis instead of the commitment to full fledged employment.

 

[Simon Winter]

In my opinion, I think you should go with the clients first policy, because in simple words staff can wait for work but clients won't do that. Cheers!

 

[Ashley_Price]

I guess another question to ask is, what is the timeline between the time the client first approaches you about working for them, and you starting the contract?

If it is just a few days, then yes you will need staff first, so you can fulfil the client requirements.

However, if you are looking at a month or more, between the client first contacting you and you actually starting the contract, then you will have time to get the sales team in.

Either way, you want to have enough time to ensure the salespeople you take on are going to be able to perform to your expectations. You need to be able to check their references, etc. Just because they're self-employed, you still want to know that they are going to do the job.

Oh, and on a slightly separate topic, don't worry about being too small for the big fish... you should be asking yourself "Why should Mr Big Fish want to use me?" If you can answer that question, and you are certain you can do the job they expect, then you are halfway there. Most businesses don't care what size you are, as long as you can do the job they need.

 

[Josh - FTZ Studios]

client. I'd just lie though, I don't see telling them they need to wait for you to employ staff going well. Just hire quick after and stick the 14 hour days in for a while

Yeah, I completely agree. Client doesn't need to know that you could be short staffed or that you a new to employing. I suggest simply taking the big job on, hack it out and within a few weeks, employ.

Surely leaflet distribution employment, especially at a self-employed level means minimum wage?

Also think about having your self-employed employees sign a contract stating that work could go quiet. A zero hour contract basically. This eliminates any risk of you having to employ them if the job falls through.

Go to your client with 100% conviction that you can do this job, and sort out the issues later!

 

[Thermodynamic Man]

Back in the day when starting out... when the client asked me " can you do this?"... the answer was always "yes"... I then worked out how after that. Invariably I didn't actually know how but we always found a way around doing it. So from my point of view is client first...worry about how afterwards

 

[rf-harris]

I think you should have first have a staff and then you move towards your clients. If you have clients and you can't manage them, what's the point?

 

[Thermodynamic Man]

I think you should have first have a staff and then you move towards your clients. If you have clients and you can't manage them, what's the point?

And if you have a load of staff without one customer?..... .the point is what then?

Tell you what. I have just ordered a chicken and an egg from Amazon.... I'll let you know ......

 

[Seller Classifieds]

Hi Everyone, welcome to seller classifieds.

 

[KatiePrice123]

Ha - Yes let us know. I would personally say staff but will happily be proven wrong!

 

[kieuanh2211]

I mean employees

 

[kieuanh2211]

I think good customer service staff back new

 

[rstoubos]

I'm a believer that you need the work to warrant the staff, so I'd say get the client work first then get the staff. You can always get temporary staff in the interim process. I also advise you try and bank some money in a company savings account so that you can cover any staff salary if clients were to drop off for whatever reason.

 

[FreebieBoy34]

So, I'm currently running a one man leaflet distribution business but it's time to branch out. I'm looking into direct sales, as this is where my expertise lie, mainly door to door and event marketing.

I'll be employing salespeople on a self-employed basis, but the question is... do I employ them first and tell them the work is coming or do I find the client first and explain to them that I'm in the process of employing the team?

I have clients in mind, they're big fish but I think I'm as capable of approaching them as I am a small business, either way the potential client has to understand I am in the process of starting up the direct sales business and of course, at first it will be a little bit slow...

Hi there! My advice is to focus on staff first then clients after. It actually depends upon the situation, but this is the best thing that you should do for. At least, that's just my own opinion... Hope it helps!

 

[simon field]

And how long will these 'staff' hang around with no work to do, do you think?