Whether they want to or not, most entrepreneurs start their businesses on their own. Several do want workers but have a difficult time filling open positions.
SCORE’s latest infographic highlights the challenges of entrepreneurs creating the right team in their first year of business.
Who handled these responsibilities during your company’s first year?
Strategy/Planning:
- 96.6%: Owner
- 0.6%: Employee
- 0.6%: Contractor
- 0.1%: Intern
- 2.1%: Family/Friend (unpaid)
Sales
- 92.9%: Owner
- 3.5%: Employee
- 1.5%: Contractor
- 0.1%: Intern
- 1.8%: Family/Friend (unpaid)
Marketing
- 92.3%: Owner
- 1.5%: Employee
- 2.4%: Contractor
- 0.1%: Intern
- 3.5%: Family/Friend (unpaid)
Logistics/Inventory/Distribution
- 88.9%: Owner
- 5.3%: Employee
- 2.8%: Contractor
- 0.1%: Intern
- 2.8%: Family/Friend (unpaid)
Service delivery or Product creation/Manufacturing
- 82.6%: Owner
- 9.3%: Employee
- 6.1%: Contractor
- 0%: Intern
- 2.0%: Family/Friend (unpaid)
Technology
- 79.1%: Owner
- 2.5%: Employee
- 10.3%: Contractor
- 0.3%: Intern
- 7.8%: Family/Friend (unpaid)
Accounting/Finance
- 76.7%: Owner
- 3.5%: Employee
- 14.3%: Contractor
- 0%: Intern
- 5.4%: Family/Friend (unpaid)
Manufacturing
- 72.7%: Owner
- 6.1%: Employee
- 18.8%: Contractor
- 0.3%: Intern
- 2.0%: Family/Friend (unpaid)
Legal
- 60.5%: Owner
- 1.3%: Employee
- 32.6%: Contractor
- 0.4%: Intern
- 5.1%: Family/Friend (unpaid)
More startups want to hire in the first year than those surveyed in our 2017 Megaphone of Main Street data report:
- 54% sought employees in their first year in 2019, while
- 38% sought employees in our 2017 survey.
Finding qualified people is a bigger struggle in 2019:
- Owners who had difficulty filling job openings: 52% in 2019 and 41% in 2017
- Owners who could not fill job openings: 33% in 2019 and 14% in 2017
Challenges in filling open positions:
- Cannot find qualified applicants (skills/expertise): 75.7%
- Need to raise salary/wages to be competitive: 28.8%
- Do not offer health care benefits: 27%
- Too time-consuming to hire qualified workers: 24.3%
- Company location not desirable to candidates: 7.2%
- Candidates do not pass drug-testing requirements: 6.3%
Whether you’re a startup or an established business, SCORE mentors can help you succeed.