On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on the TechTO stage in 2021. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Andrea ↗
In their words
When you're starting a business and you're evaluating — is it just yourself, is it a partnership, are you trying to lead a small team — having that introspection and that critical review of what your management style is and what it's like to work with you, I think it's something that's often overlooked.
A practice that we see for smaller businesses is to keep individuals who are employed in the US and working out of the US on as a consultant or as a contractor for as long as possible, and then evaluating: is there actually going to be operations there within the US, to determine if it makes sense to set up a subsidiary.
One of the things I wanted to say in terms of managing costs is also around grants. I think that's something that's thought about after the fact — that there are so many good grants that are out there that are available to small businesses, to entrepreneurs.
More from TechTO ×1
Around the web ×2
Quick answers
Who is Andrea Bartlett?
A Toronto people and HR leader, currently VP, People at Lillio, the childcare software company previously known as HiMama. She led people operations at Humi, the Canadian HR, payroll and benefits platform, and has built HR teams for startups and small businesses in Canada, the US and Latin America.
What did she tell early-stage founders about payroll?
That the trigger is structure, not headcount. The question is whether there is genuinely an employee — what the articles and the employment agreement say — because a sole owner drawing money from their own corporation does not carry the same withholding obligations as a company with staff.
What did she recommend founders read?
Radical Candor and Simon Sinek's Start With Why, plus a bluntly titled book on management self-awareness. Her reason was the same for all of them: a first-time leader should look critically at their own management style, and at what it is like to work with them, before trying to lead a team.