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Originally Posted by TMM_John
Keep it simple. Hire from outside of the industry (primarily), don't do remote employment (have an office), have them on salary (with room for growth), provide good benefits and an enjoyable work environment.
10-15% seems very low in my opinion, but I'm sure it depends on where your other expenses fall. For instance, as a software company, the majority of our costs are staff related. For someone producing a tangible product, or reselling goods, I'd imagine that that would not be the case.
Use a payroll service such as ADP or Paychex, they're extremely cheap for the amount of headaches they take care of for you and the extra services they can provide. We've tried both and have ended up with ADP in case you're curious.
The BIGGEST part of it all IMO is having an actual office. You'll find that it will take your company up a level and it allows you to have things such as proper employees. Start there, start small, grow slowly & steadily. Treat your business as a business.
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John, I am also very "pro" the office enviornment and how it can be a a benefit to a companies growth. I do say though that remote staff can work if its done with a manager who is comfortable managing people remotely. I think the days of remote work without video/skype conferencing are gone but remote staff who are plugged into the office and visibly working with others is doable. (In your case for developers its VERY hard to have them remote I completely understand and would do the same.)
For a SaaS company like yours I would go and look at public companies and then see what other companies that are larger than you are doing in terms of staffing percent. It would give you an idea of where you should be in relation to the industry. (I wouldn't do startups as they are really not in it to make money.)