Staff: who do you need, and what does it cost?
Record the role, FTE, wage and start month for each profile and see right away what your team costs.
Step 12 of 18: Online business plan
Video: how to build a staffing plan in the Business Planner.
For many businesses, staff is the biggest cost item, and also the factor that decides whether a plan can be carried out. A revenue forecast that doubles while the team stays the same convinces nobody. On the other hand, hiring too early can drain your cash. In this step, you show who you need, from when, and what it costs.
Three tabs in the Business Planner
- 01
Team
One line per profile. You fill in the role, a description and the requirements, and next to that the number of people, the FTE, the type of contract, the gross monthly wage and the month in which someone starts.
- 02
Recruitment and culture
In two short texts, you describe how you find new people and why they would want to work for you, apart from the salary.
- 03
Staff costs
The planner works out the costs: number times FTE times monthly wage. You see the total per month and per year at full occupancy, and the costs per year based on each role's start month.
From staffing plan to financial plan
The calculation shows what your team costs in gross wages. Add that amount as a cost line under Costs in your financial plan yourself, because it is not carried over automatically. Then check that it shows up in the profit and loss statement. Also budget for the costs on top of gross wages, such as social security contributions, pension and holiday pay. Add those as a separate cost line. That way, your profit doesn't look better on paper than it will in reality.
Example: a small team in a salon
The salon in the demo works with three profiles: a senior stylist who stands in for the owner when she is away, a part-time stylist and a junior stylist who is trained through a work-based apprenticeship. Under recruitment, the owner describes how she finds people through her network, the hairdressing schools in the region and Instagram. She trains the junior stylist herself, so the salon depends less on a tight labor market. The costs show the gross wages, with a separate line for employer contributions and holiday pay.
- Start month: bring new roles in only when revenue allows it.
- FTE: converts a part-time job into a share of a full working week.
- Contract: permanent, temporary, freelance, internship or hired staff.