I hate it when people ask me how my weekend was. To me, that's just another two days. Last Saturday, I was in the office cleaning up some bulging files, and on Sunday, after a long morning run (I'm training for the Dublin Marathon), I was working on a proposal from home with two packs of frozen peas on the part of my leg that ceased to function after 13 miles (I'll never make it to 26).

Running your own business is very much like running a marathon. You need to focus, keep running, don't stop, and keep going when you hit the wall. Similar stages confront entrepreneurs. One of those stages, perhaps the most difficult, involves hiring. It's been six months now since my longtime assistant got a better offer and switched jobs. Six months is a long time without an assistant, especially if that person was your only assistant. Oh, I've managed by plugging holes here and there, hiring an intern and someone part-time to help with projects. But it's time I faced reality, took a deep breath, reached into my revenues, and hired some permanent people before I lose my mind.

I created my business, so it's easy for me to make things up as I go along. But you really can't do that with a staff. Part of the fear of hiring a staff is that you won't know what to do with them, and they'll lose themselves downloading passages from the Starr report. I'm pretty lousy at delegating, and I'm working hard at trying to let go. It's almost like leaving the kid with a sitter for the very first time.

Entrepreneurs come in different varieties, and when it comes to hiring, there are the extroverts and the introverts. The extroverts, who tend to be a bit more seasoned in rolling dice, have no idea where they will find the money to pay for a staff, but they hire anyway and hope the new people will generate enough extra revenue to pay their own way. The introverts, like me, weigh the pros and cons of spending money for staff. Truth is, if you don't invest in people, your company remains stagnant and slowly begins a decline as subtle as an eroding beach. Before you know it, everything you've built begins to disappear, and you need the Army Corps of Engineers to bail you out.

My business has just celebrated that magic turning point of three years when things are supposed to begin to gel and companies take off. But doing it all myself is not going to fly. So I'm looking for someone "willing to grow with the company," which translated means "work for a little above minimum wage, have weekends available, and have the same undying passion for this business as I do."

The résumés are not exactly flying in, but I'm willing to wait it out for the right person. Meantime, I think I'll throw out the garbage. Those peas are beginning to get to me.

George Giokas is the president and CEO of StaffWriters Plus, a specialty agency that places writers in temporary and permanent positions with corporate and other employers. It also provides editorial consulting work. His database includes 2,500 writers and editors specializing in more than 60 categories. His Web site is located at www.staffwriters.com, and you can E-mail him at george@staffwriters.com.

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