Creating and maintaining a successful business is not an easy feat by any means, and the challenges one faces when doing so are ever-changing. As your small business grows and develops, it will go through a few different growth stages. Working with certain advisors such as lawyers or accountants can help with important decisions, and adding a PEO to your team is another giant step towards success. Here are a few ways that a PEO can help your business succeed through every stage:
Start-Up Stage
The start-up stage is always a difficult time for any business, as budgets are smaller and staff is often limited, each employee often taking on a few different roles. Adding a PEO to your team during this time can not only reduce HR-related expenses, but also provide access to better employee benefits.
By helping to identify company inefficiencies, streamlining HR processes, and making cost-cutting decisions, siding with a PEO can free up your time during this initial stage to make crucial company decisions and to find your niche in the business world. A PEO can also help by handling time-consuming HR-related tasks such as benefits administration and identifying plans, while you manage the in’s and out’s of the company. It also allows you to have access to more HR services at a rate that is much lower than companies who manage their HR services in-house.
Having decent employee benefit packages is another plus that can come with working with a quality PEO. When budgets are tight, it can be challenging to keep costs low without losing productivity — or your best workers. A great employee benefits package is one way to attract and keep great employees. Studies show that businesses that have enhanced their benefits packages report higher employee performance, a more engaged workforce, lower turnover rates, and fewer missed workdays.
Since businesses in the start-up stage are often yet to reach their target revenue, providing high-quality employee benefits can seem out of reach. Due to a PEO’s ability to group employees of small businesses into one pool as a way to negotiate better benefits packages at lower rates, a PEO can help with access to enterprise-level benefits like those offered at large corporations, including comprehensive health plans at a much more affordable cost.
Established Stage
Now that the beginning stage is over, it is all about “the grind.” In this stage of your business you will already be established; you will know where you want to go, and exactly how to get there. The only thing keeping you from your end goal is countless hours of hard work and effort. From new reporting requirements, record-keeping, and frequently changing filing deadlines, the HR responsibilities of an established business continue to grow. While the day-to-day seems routine, your time may be consumed with HR administrative paperwork versus growing your business. Business owners can get behind when the majority of time is consumed by chasing paperwork, keeping up with deadlines, and addressing internal issues rather than attending to their customers’ needs. This is where a PEO can step in and take some much-needed weight off of your shoulders.
Expansion Stage
At this point you’ve come a long way, and your business has taken off to new heights. Once you’ve successfully made it past the start-up and established phases, the next thing to do is look forward, focusing on new directions and growth. At this stage, you may expand your business by adding more products, services, employees and/or locations. Moving into this stage, important decisions have to be made quickly and decidedly, without any room for mistakes.
With a growing business and added staff, it will become imperative to avoid workplace risks and prevent costly compliance violations. A quality PEO is knowledgeable about employment laws and is current with changing federal, state, and local regulations as well as the latest filing deadlines. As a result, a PEO can protect employers and their employees by reducing risks and preventing costly compliance violations.
This is especially true if your business operates in multiple states, as each state comes with a different set of state laws that apply to your business. A PEO can help businesses comply with the labor laws and regulations governed by the state where employees are working, not just where your business is based. This will ensure that no detail or technicality falls between the cracks when you are focusing on your business expansion.
As your business grows and expands, there will also be more issues in your HR department that will need to be handled. A PEO can help with guidance on HR-administrative tasks such as handling unemployment claims, employment verifications, background checks, and drug tests, provide resolution strategies and advice for handling complaints, disciplinary actions, as well as terminations.
Payroll is another area where a PEO can help significantly, as they can simplify the time-consuming process of managing payroll and take care of employee onboarding, payroll tax withdrawals, and timely IRS deposits.
Change Stage
Once established and expanded, your business will move into a stage where you are maintaining things well during normal circumstances, but have to adjust certain aspects due to changes in the world around you. Changes in the economy, market conditions, or a global pandemic crisis can quickly affect your business, requiring you to make critical decisions regarding change. Without a PEO to advise you during a time like this, businesses can easily make a wrong decision or handle a tough situation poorly, which can lead to revenue loss or even the closing of the business you’ve put so much into.
For example, the Covid-19 pandemic impacted businesses around the globe, and the ones who were able to adjust to the new climate were the ones that were able to succeed even through these trying times. PEOs helped companies to navigate through workplace challenges such as staff reductions, transitions to remote work, new Covid-related compliance regulations, PPP loans, and more. It was because of PEOs that many companies were able to stay afloat and/or thrive through the difficulties that the Covid-19 pandemic brought about.
Since there is no guarantee of what tomorrow will bring, having a PEO on your side at all times is the insurance your business needs, allowing you to be prepared for whatever may come.
How BRG Advisory Group Can Help You During Any Growth Stage
A quality certified PEO such as BRG Advisory Group can help your business through any and all stages of growth, ensuring not only that you thrive in your current stage, but that you also make it to the next stages as well. Call us today at 800-971-3006 or fill out our online form to find out how BRG Advisory Group can help your business be the best it can be!
