The one thing that I would caution is to make sure that your hourly rates and estimated job times are realistic for an employee.
As Mahlere has mentioned many times, something that you can do in 4 hours will take an employee 6 to 8 hours. And make sure that you are charging enough to cover the full burdened cost per manhour and still make a profit.
I made that mistake when I had my first company. I just wasn't prepared to cover the expenses of employees.
Something else that you could try though, I work with two other small contractors. The three of us will pool our resources when necessary. In this way, we are working for one another as subcontractors.
Help when you need it, without the concern of costs when you're slow. I realize this isn't a permanent solution, but if you know a fellow contractor well, and can work this sort of thing out, it works quite well until you are sure you want to take the next step to hiring an employee.
Just my thoughts
