I want to hire an intern to help me with some miscellaneous activities in my business, but I am not sure if I can afford it? Suggestions? Bellevue, NE

You should not be hiring an intern to do miscellaneous activities. If you do not have a specific job title and job description on what exactly this intern should be doing in your business then you are not ready to hire an intern or employee. If you bring on an intern without specifically knowing what this position is accountable to do and what expectation you will have for them, then it is not fair for you, the intern, or your business, not to mention the customer. This will create more of hassle for you as the business owner, rather than bringing some sort of relief which I am assuming is the whole point! That being said, if you have a clear idea of the duties and responsibilities of this position, then I would suggest evaluating those activities. Are you going to require this person to do administration work? Are you going to require this position to sell product and make sales calls? These are two very different scenarios. Depending on the responsibilities of this person, will give you a clearer idea of how it translates financially to your business. If you are going to have this person, say, take inbound calls and set sales appointments. This may free up time for you are the business owner to increase sales, leading to additional revenue and paying for the position. Or if you want this position to sell, then identifying those revenue generating metrics will assist you in evaluating if you can afford the position or not. Either way the job description is highly important.