What is the most intimidating thing for you in life? For some.. it can be writing, sports, or maybe even spiders. For me, it is how does one transform their business from being a one-man show to relying on multiple employees and procedures in order to maintain the flow of business. My life as far as I can remember has been involved through the web, one way or another. Starting from online gaming into web hosting, to now what sparks my interest for many years, web development.

That being said, I have always pictured myself running an online development & marketing agency, right here in Orange County. Since the year 2007 I started my brand, Ephex, which has evolved into many forms throughout the years. If I look back from the beginning till now a lot has changed from the way I approach, speak, and manage clients. [Let's not forget about the extra pay. haha.] I see many aspects of the my business growing including the type of projects, the amount of calls and meetings throughout the week, and to be blunt, the demand I see with all sorts of businesses needing my services. But in the end, I am still a one man show and want to achieve the next step to transform my business into the next level.

This is what I want, to start putting Ephex Online in movement where the possibility of scaling the business is easier. Now don’t get me wrong, the last thing I am trying to accomplish is a quick route to be successful. To be specific, my workload is higher than for me to handle, especially with school being my main priority. I must find alternative methods to have extra hands on deck, rather than my own. As most of you know, I am not the greatest designer out there and I find my skills advancing quickly in back-end development. Smaller projects and basic front-end work seems… for lack of a better word, boring! So the answer to my problem is to hire someone who can help with design & front-end code work.

It’s a big step for a small-business owner to hire the first employee, really intimidating. Sure, I outsourced work when needed including design & front-end coding. I always have a few people under my belt through the internet, residing from the Philippines to the United Kingdom, all over the world. Although their work was superb, there remains the problem… communication. Communication is key and speaking through Skype, AIM, MSN, mIRC makes it hard to communicate correctly.

So the time has come where my goal for Ephex Online, this summer 2012 to find the perfect part-time employee. Many variables must be considered when doing this, not only should my first hire be knowledgeable in web development but also have the inspired attitude to create awesome websites and software. The last thing I would want is to hire someone who is a robot and would take such a job as means to an end for the money. I know it is a lot to ask but I hope I can find someone who is young, inspired, and completely not afraid to be creative.

My first step which I am already putting into movement is to barter my online development and marketing services for some extra office space. Within this space I will create a small home for Ephex Online to work and grow out of. I will take my time and choose carefully when searching the right person with all the correct features to join me in this transformation.

I am truly excited and will let you know how this experience pans out for me.

P.S. Not bad for a first post?