Do you ever feel, as a small-business owner, that growth opportunities are left unexploited because you just don't have the resources to pursue them?

Within my own company, I usually find that I am stretched pretty thin, and we keep all of our employees extremely busy. Consequently, I understand the frustration of knowing opportunities are being left untapped.

An obvious solution to the problem is to hire more employees. However, adding full-time workers is an expensive alternative when you consider the fully loaded costs of an employee (which include salary, bonuses, payroll taxes, benefits, etc.). In addition, it is always difficult to cut employees if you find that you no longer need the extra resources.

In our company, we are careful when hiring additional employees. We try to maximize a number we consider to be almost sacred: revenue per employee. If we add employees, we try to ensure that our revenue increases pro- portionately.

To keep employee hiring in check, you may want to consider whether you are hiring an employee as a reaction to growth or as a catalyst for growth. Unless the additional employee is in a revenue-generating function (e.g. sales), then I prefer to hire as a reaction.

Let me suggest an alternative solution to the problem: hire a college intern.

Traditionally, interns have been hired into a more "corporate" setting. However, many college students are interested in entrepreneurship, and they are willing to join the ranks of a small company to get that experience.

There are a number of practical benefits to hiring interns. First, these students tend to be more interested in experience than in what they are being paid. As a result, even a cash-constrained start-up can afford an intern.

Second, because they are interested in getting experience, interns are typically very engaged in whatever project they are given.

Third, most interns are also looking for a resume-building experience, so I find that they work hard to ensure that their managers are happy to give them a good reference.

Finally, since an internship by definition is not permanent employment, these positions are short-term, which make them perfect for project-based work.

In return for the above benefits, we make sure our interns are getting what they want from the job. We treat them like our full-time employees. We give them access to management so they can learn about all aspects of entrepreneurial business. We are liberal with our feedback about their performance. And, above all, we give them real projects that have measured deliverables and can truly impact the growth of our company.

Oh, and we always try to have a lot of fun along the way.

Finding interns is not as difficult as it may seem. An obvious first start is to contact a college within a university that represents the skill set your position requires. For example, if I want to hire an intern to help with a business development project, then I would contact the business school at one of the local universities. Chances are that college has an intern placement service that helps match interns with employers.

Another good resource is www.utahintern.org. This site includes additional ideas to help you structure your internship and allows you to post your internship opportunity for free.

The next time you think you have an opportunity knocking, don't ignore it. Instead, just hire an intern to open the door.