HR on a Budget: What Small Businesses Actually Need (and What They Can Ignore)

Because Small Businesses Don’t Have Time (or Money) for Corporate Nonsense

If you’ve ever Googled “HR for small businesses,” you’ve probably found yourself drowning in a sea of corporate must-haves, compliance checklists, and 100-page guides that make it sound like you need an entire department just to keep things running.

Spoiler alert: You don’t.

Small businesses don’t operate like Fortune 500 companies, so why should your HR strategy look like theirs? The trick is knowing what actually matters—and what you can ignore.

Let’s break it down.

What Small Businesses Actually Need

A Handbook That Actually Works (Not Just a Legal CYA Document)

Yes, you need an employee handbook, but it shouldn’t just be a collection of policies copied from some massive corporation that operates nothing like your business.

Your handbook should:
✔ Clearly define expectations and policies that employees actually need.
✔ Be simple, useful, and practical—not a dense legal document that no one reads.
✔ Stay updated to reflect changes in labor laws and your own business needs.

What you don’t need?
- A legal jargon nightmare that doesn’t reflect how your business actually operates.
- A free template you grabbed off the internet that might technically be compliant… but not for your state, industry, or company structure. - A document your employees won’t read or can’t easily access

Peopleish offers custom handbook solutions for small businesses because you deserve more than a one-size-fits-all template that doesn't actually fit you.

Payroll and Employee Classification That Won’t Get You Fined

One of the surest ways to get in trouble with the IRS, the Department of Labor, or state agencies? Messing up payroll or misclassifying employees.

You absolutely need:
✔ A reliable payroll system (even if you only have a handful of employees).
✔ A clear understanding of employee vs. independent contractor classification (the IRS does not take kindly to getting this wrong).
✔ A process for tracking wages, overtime, and required deductions—especially if you have employees in different states.

We don’t do payroll—but we know amazing people who do. You don’t hear us mention payroll as a whole frequently. You will see a lot of payroll companies that “also do HR”. We are not one of them. We believe that they are separate but related disciplines and that each has their own expertise. We’re not afraid to stay in our lane. We’re good at it. If you’re looking for affordable, small-business-friendly payroll solutions, we can connect you with professionals who won’t try to upsell you on features you don’t need. Employee classifications and applying payroll processes to your employees? That’s where we come in.

A Few Basic Policies to Keep You Out of Trouble

You don’t need a policy for everything, but you do need a few key ones, including:

✔ Anti-harassment & discrimination policy (because this protects everyone).
✔ Time off & leave policies (so employees aren’t guessing).
✔ Technology & social media policy (to avoid messy workplace issues).
✔ Discipline & termination policy (so you don’t fire someone in a way that gets you sued).

What you don’t need?
A policy for every possible scenario. If something isn’t a recurring issue, you probably don’t need a formal policy on it.

And no, we don’t hand out free compliance checklists or policy templates—because honestly, we think that’s a disservice to you. HR is not one-size-fits-all, and using a generic checklist might actually put your business at risk instead of protecting it.

Your business deserves better than a half-baked, one-size-doesn’t-really-fit-anyone template. That’s why we help businesses build HR solutions that actually make sense for their operations.

A Way to Handle Hiring Without Overcomplicating It

If you’re growing, you need a solid hiring process—but that doesn’t mean you need corporate-level ATS software or a complicated 5-stage interview process.

What you actually need:
✔ A clear job description so you don’t waste time on bad applicants.
✔ A simple, standardized interview process that helps you pick the right people.
✔ A new hire checklist so you don’t forget the basics (I-9s, payroll setup, etc.).

What you don’t need?
An in house recruiter if you’re not hiring as often.
A fancy applicant tracking system if a well-organized spreadsheet will do. A full corporate hiring process feel. (The process should be compliance but really reflect what it’s like to work for and with YOU.)

What You Can Ignore (or Get for Free)

-Overpriced HR Software

Unless you have dozens of employees, you probably don’t need an expensive, all-in-one HR system. Many small businesses get by just fine using a mix of free or low-cost tools—and we can help you figure out which ones actually work for your needs.

-Compliance "Bundles" That Cost a Fortune

Some HR services will try to sell you a compliance package that’s mostly filled with information you can get for free.

• Need required labor law posters? You can get them for free online.

• Need basic compliance guidance? Government agencies publish tons of free resources.

• Need help understanding what actually applies to you? That’s where we come in.

Small Business HR Should Be Affordable (and Actually Useful)

We don’t believe in selling you things you don’t need or handing out free templates that might set you up for failure.

Instead, we focus on helping small businesses get the HR support they actually need—without the corporate nonsense.

✔ Need help figuring out what applies to your business? We’ve got you.
✔ Need custom HR solutions that make sense for your size and industry? That’s what we do.
✔ Need affordable, small-business-friendly HR support? That’s literally our thing.

HR doesn’t have to be expensive, complicated, or filled with corporate fluff. Let’s get you what actually matters. Peopleish has your back.