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Hiring Employee Number One From Freelancer to Agency
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Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
Robert Kennedy
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Be prepared to make sacrifices
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Work with people you like
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No road is long with good company- Turkish Proverb
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Starting WebDevStudios
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Minimize Overhead
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Not Funny Bro!
@sco5basgaard
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• Interns• Local Community– Meetups, WordCamps, Events
• Social Networks– Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn
• Look Outside the Box– Justin (House Painter -> Lead Developer) – Jaimie (Hot Topic Manager -> Project Manager)
How to Hire
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Chris Cochran was WebDevStudios first intern and first hire
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Matt Mullenweg was our third hire
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Brian Williams was our fourth….
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• Business Insurance• Payroll Taxes– Withholding– Unemployment Taxes– Varies by State
• *Disclaimer: UK/Europe is probably different
Lessons Learned in Hiring
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• Legal / Lawyer Fees– Employee Handbook– Contracts
• Benefits• HR
Lessons Learned in Hiring
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Things to Look For in Employees
• Attitude is as important as skill level• Always eager to learn more• Can admit what they don’t know• Enjoys knowledge sharing• Able to work from home
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Final Thoughts
• Listen to your Gut• Take Risks• Stay Focused• Balance Work and Life
• If you aren’t happy, make a change
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And finally, never forget to….
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Brad WilliamsCEO / Co-Founder @ WebDevStudios