Ready to hire 1st employee - HELP?!?!?

[wglyons]

Well - I figured it would come to this...

I started my business in May of last year to make a little extra cash, and it kind of exploded. I only do this part-time, as I am a regional manager for a large corporation, and travel most weeks Monday-Thursday. So, that generally leaves Friday and Saturday for lawn care, and I usually have to handle a few properties on Monday's before I leave town.

At this point, I handle approximately 45 properties, with at least 25 lawns per week now that we're back to the growing season.

However, I keep getting on-line requests for estimates, and the phone keeps ringing with new potential customers, so I continue to grow. I don't really want to stop taking new accounts - I would really like to make a go at trying to turn this into a substantial and successful business.

I've had a buddy or two help me out here and there, but nothing official (I know, not good). But I need to take a serious look at hiring someone on part-time. My thought is to work with them for a few weeks, and then try to cut them loose on their own, or maybe hire them a helper. I have a lot of reservations letting someone take my truck and equipment, but in reality, I know a lot of people on this site see that happen every day, so it must be possible. I also realize that many of my clients have hired "ME" and not my company/employees to handle their lawn care, so that may be a situation that I have to face.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me on how to handle these growing pains??? Any suggestions will be GREATLY appreciated...

Greg
Gainesville, FL