Small business owners are accountable for all aspects of the business! Picture this: You're running a successful small business. It’s small, productive, and you're providing a valuable service to two or three clients. The clients pay you regularly and on time, you don't feel a need to expand, and so you don't hire other employees to work for you. You wake up in the morning with a nasty cold. There's no way you can make it to work today, but you have work to do for all of your clients with a deadline. You have nobody to call, so you either have to “suck it up” and go to work, sick and unfocused, or put off the work for another day, possibly losing clients for being late. The decision not to hire employees was yours. And you are accountable for all outcomes. The decisions you make affect you every second. It's a boost to your small business's reliability, productivity and capacity. You can handle more work; and you can do that work faster and more efficiently. For many people, hiring employees is a scary idea. Many business owners love autonomy and feel like they’re relinquishing control of the business. They see employees as burdensome instead of support. If this applies to you, this is a challenge you’ll need to overcome. Employees are the greatest resource for business owners.
“Getting results through people is a skill that cannot be learned in a classroom.” - Jean Paul Getty, the first billionaire
When looking for potential employees, there are several factors that should be taken into account to ensure you hire the best, most reliable person for the job. In a small business, if you don't make it to work, this person is essentially going to be acting in your place. For this reason, your first employees are going to have a profound effect on your small business and you'll want to pay extra attention to whom you hire. So, how can you tell that the person you hire is the best one for the job? Some common hiring advice includes looking at more than skill and talent—but at the person. Someone may be a highly skilled accountant, but may have poor work ethic or may misrepresent the small business when left to his or her own devices. Also, don't rely too much on the person's references. People are often misconstrued for a variety of different reasons. The best way to get to know a person is through talking to the person and asking them meaningful questions. Spending time conversing is key to hiring the right person for the job. As long as you're attentive to the interviewee's responses and personality, the right person for the job should be obvious.
Sincerely,
Ilya Bodner
Small Business Owner
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