Mark, if possible try and do it as a contracting arrangement because it may be less onerous than employing people. Can’t speak for US law but here you don’t have to worry as much with employee obligations and the associated costs such as workers compensaton insurance, payroll tax, retirement benefits and leave pay. Of course the other benefit is that it is for a set amount of time as well. If they don’t work out then you can either pay them out or just wait until the end of the contract. Much easier than dealing with the crap of getting rid of some-one.
If you don’t treat your contractors fairly though they can walk at the end of the time and you are back at square one. Nothing is easy when you have people working for you, be it employees or contractors. That said, you can achieve so much more when you have people working for you so it can be worth it but there is a price to pay for it.