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Help Wanted: Tips for Hiring Employees

Ideally, hiring employees should allow you to focus your time and talent on the areas of your business that require your attention.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out that way. Small business owners often find themselves spending more time (and money) training, solving problems or correcting employee mistakes than when they were operating as a one-woman shop.

The process of hiring employees may sometimes seem like a gamble. But there are some steps you can take to tip the odds in your favor.

Know what you need

Employees will bring the most value to your business when they have clear direction on what their jobs are. You may know you need help, but take some time to think about exactly what kind of help you need. Create a formal job description for the position. It’s okay if it includes the line “Other tasks as assigned by…” Your employee needs to know what your expectations are. If he/she has a list of ongoing responsibilities, it will save you the time and frustration of constantly having to tell him/her what needs done.

Temps Vs. Hiring Employees

If you’re not sure you need a permanent part-time or full-time person, you might consider using a personnel services agency to hire a temporary worker for times when you need some extra help. The benefits of hiring a temp are that the agency has already screened the worker for you and the agency handles the wages and benefits for the employee. You simply pay the agency for the service provided. But don’t assume that “temp” equals cheap. There is a cost for this convenience. If you really do need someone on a more permanent basis, trying to bridge the gap with temps may end up being more expensive than hiring employees on your own.

Hire Smart

When you post a job opening, you will likely be inundated with applications. Some will be qualified for the position. Many will not be. Others may be overqualified and be at risk for jumping ship the moment a better offer comes their way. Sifting through a mountain of resumes can be overwhelming, and setting up a parade of interviews is time consuming.

You need to bring only the best people in to be interviewed—preferably the top three applicants with the qualifications that you need to fill the job. To whittle down your options, set some guidelines on the front end of the process to help you decide which candidates will make the cut. Only pull resumes of applicants that meet those standards that you have established.

At this point, your main focus is filling the position, but you should be looking toward the future as well. While interviewing, try to pick up on cues that would indicate what type of employee the applicant would be. Does she seem to be just interested in a job, or does it appear that she is motivated by a challenge? Does the candidate seem to have a particular interest in what your business does?

Ask the right questions and be careful to not ask the wrong ones. Avoid asking applicants illegal or inappropriate questions during the interview.

If your schedule and responsibilities don’t allow for you to take the time you should to hire the best person for the position, you might consider contracting an HR consultant to help. Many solo HR consultants are willing to take on the task of hiring employees, and can even help you onboard and train your new employees.

Using Customer Testimonials To Promote Your Business

Business owners have been using customer testimonials to promote their businesses for centuries. And I don’t see this tried and true marketing method going into retirement any time soon.

Third party endorsements are marketing gold. When done well, they deliver a convincing message in a way that potential customers or clients can relate to.

But great testimonials don’t just happen. Powerful, effective customer testimonials require some thought and planning on your part.

Identify Your Target Audience

Just as you would with any other marketing effort, you first need to identify your target audience. Who are you trying to reach? What might motivate them to buy your products or hire your services?

The answers to these questions will help you identify the right happy customer to ask for a testimonial and it will serve as the foundation for the message that is ultimately delivered.

Decide On A Message

What do you want your audience to remember, think, or do after they see the testimonial?

One big mistake small business owners make when using testimonials is leaving the message to chance. They simply ask a happy client or customer for a testimonial and take what they can get.

Here’s the problem with that. Every client or customer’s experience with your business is unique. Each may have different reasons for doing business with you. For some, the thing they appreciate most about your business may be so narrow that it would not be very useful to you in attracting new customers.

When using customer testimonials, try to determine common themes between your happy customers’ experiences and what you want to promote to prospects. Maybe it’s great customer service. Perhaps, it is your level of expertise or experience in a certain area, or your product is the best in the business.

Have A Hand In It

It’s ok to steer their testimonial in the direction that you want it to go. To be most effective, your testimonials must contain messages that align with the rest of your marketing messages.

All of this said, testimonials should be authentic and truthful. The message needs to match the messenger. Find those messengers whose experience with your business aligns with your desired message.

Ask the customers you’ve identified as testimonial messengers what they value most about the aspect of your business that you are trying to promote. Then take their comments and turn them into a concise two-three sentence endorsement of your business.

Simple Formula For Using Customer Testimonials

Keep it simple. Here’s a formula you can use as a guide.

This was my problem, this is how company x/product x helped me fix it.

Strive for just one key message per testimonial. If your messenger has a lot of great things to say, split his/her comments up into multiple testimonials and use them across a variety of communications platforms.

Using customer testimonials is a great way to establish trust and credibility with your audience. So use this tips to create authentic and effective testimonials for your business that turn prospects into customers.

Five Subtle Business Blunders

We all make mistakes, but when you are running a business, mistakes can cost you money. While you may approach big decisions with care to avoid a costly error, sometimes it’s the little things that really count. Here’s my list of the top subtle business blunders. I have witnessed all of them, maybe even committed a few myself. If you have employees, the list is worth sharing.

“Celling” it short. I recently had a life insurance agent visit me on a sales call. I had scheduled to give him 30 minutes of my valuable time. As he began his presentation, his cell phone rang. When he reached for it, I assumed he was going to hit the switch to send the call directly to voicemail. Instead, he answered it. Rather than politely tell the person on the other end of the call that he was in a meeting with a client, he engaged in the phone conversation as if I weren’t in the room. From my end, it didn’t appear to be urgent. He was on the phone for about five minutes—five minutes of my 30 minutes that I had graciously provided to him. He didn’t apologize when he hung up, just picked up where he left off. Needless to say, he didn’t make the sale. In that single mindless action, he made me feel as if I was not a priority. Why would I purchase from him? What could I expect from him in customer service if this is the way he treated me in the sales process? If you’re in a meeting with a real, living, breathing person, turn the cell phone off. If for some life/death reason, you must take a call, at least let your client know in advance that there is a possibility of an interruption and sincerely apologize for the potential inconvenience.

Driving Ms. Crazy. If your company car has your company logo on it, don’t do anything in it that you wouldn’t want your granny to witness. Don’t cut people off in traffic or provide a “middle finger salute” to those that cut you off. Don’t park in a handicapped space if you are not legally able to do so and don’t text while driving. You get the idea. The same rules (and many others) apply when you are wearing your business’ logo on your clothing.

No cards left behind. This one still gets me once in awhile. Obviously, it is important to always have a good inventory of your business cards with you at business functions, but a valuable networking connection can happen anywhere. Don’t let an opportunity slip through your hands because you weren’t prepared.

Follow-up failure. If you make an offer or a promise to a new networking connection or an established contact, deliver on it. If you don’t, you may be leaving money on the table. So many opportunities are missed because the follow-up didn’t happen.

All the world is a stage. And we can see the plots play out via social media outlets on a daily basis. You’ve probably heard the news stories of people getting fired from their jobs for bashing their employers on Facebook, Twitter, etc. I recently heard the story of a business that lost a huge account because an employee was posting some pretty hateful banter on a social media site about one of the business’ clients. You know how it ends. The client found out and decided to do their very hefty chunk of business elsewhere. The employee got fired, but it will take a very long time for the business to recover the revenue lost and rebuild its reputation with the lost client and others.

Building a positive reputation for your business takes time and effort. And while one small misstep may not destroy your business’ reputation, over time, subtle shortcomings can chip away at what you are working so hard to build.

Know When To Outsource

As a small business owner, you likely take on multiple roles in your organization. From staff bookkeeper to social media manager, you may find yourself doing a little bit of everything. But you’re only one person. Of course, you need to be aware of everything that’s going on in your business. But, that doesn’t mean you need to or should be doing it all. It pays to know when to outsource.

We’ve sought a lot of feedback from women who are running businesses or planning startups to help develop relevant content for Wobizzle.com. A few of those sources offered cautionary tales of lessons learned the hard way because they applied the DIY method in areas of their businesses where they really didn’t have expertise.

It’s tough when you are working with a very limited budget (or no budget at all) to allocate funds to something that you think you might be able to do yourself. But you need to consider whether doing the job yourself will truly save you money. Here are a few questions to ask to help you decide whether to roll up your sleeves or call in a pro.

How To Decide When To Outsource

Do You Have the Money to Spend?

Of course, this is the first question that needs answered. If you don’t have the money to spend, then you may need to take on the task yourself. But before you jump in, ask yourself how important the project is to your business right now. If it’s mission critical, you may want to proceed on your own. If it’s something that is not an immediate priority, consider putting it on hold until you have the resources to get it done right.

Don’t have the cash flow? Consider trade. Some freelancers or other small business owners might be open to trading services. For example, my hair stylist has a standing line of trade with a massage therapist. Their hourly rates are compatible, so she trades a haircut for a massage on a regular basis. Always approach a trade proposal on the front end. Make sure the service provider is open to the idea. Also, you may want to get the agreement in writing so both of you know what to expect.

Do You Have the Skills?

If you’re operating on a shoestring budget, but have a knack for bookkeeping, it might be a good decision to do that yourself until you have the cash flow to hire it out. But, if numbers aren’t your thing, you will be much better off if you call in a professional. The same goes for tech tasks like IT and website development, and creative services like graphic design, copywriting, etc.

Freelancers can often be a more affordable option than hiring the services of a larger organization. Put an appeal out within your network to find quality freelancers in the areas where you need help. Websites like Upwork and Fiverr can also help connect you with freelance professionals.

What’s Your Time Worth?

Knowing the value of your time is critical. Consider how much time it will take you to complete the task or project and what that equals in lost revenue. Run those numbers, and you’ll know when to outsource. If you could be generating revenue for your business instead, or if your time/talent could be better spent doing something else to grow your business, then it’s worth the investment to outsource the job to a professional.

Making good choices about where you spend your money and your time are critical to the ongoing success of your business. Knowing when to outsource is part of that. Keep in mind, if you choose to go the DIY route on tasks or projects where you lack expertise, you may end up having to pay a professional to clean up your mess later, which could cost you more than it would have to have them do it in the first place.

Business Savvy of a Six-Year Old

I recently had the opportunity to babysit for a friend. Since I don’t have children, this was quite an event. Her daughter is six years old and in kindergarten. I love interacting with children of this age for the usual reasons—no diapers to change, they can clearly communicate their needs/wants in complete sentences and they have a refreshing and wonderful sense of humor. I also love that they have a vision for their futures.

Most any child that age is quite definitive about what he or she wants to be when they grow up. Sometimes they may still be in the process of narrowing down the choices, but when asked, they typically answer quickly and with conviction.

For my friend’s daughter, the question was decisively answered with the response—fashion designer. I don’t know about you, but when I was six I wasn’t even aware that such a vocation existed. Not surprising I suppose, since my wardrobe consisted mainly of Toughskins, Garanimals and a few hand-me downs from older cousins. What I found absolutely inspiring about my little friend’s vision was that she not only knew what she wanted to be, but how she was going to get there. She had a plan.

She told me that her favorite class is art or “awt” as she pronounced it. She also revealed that her grandmother and aunt were going to teach her to knit and sew, because as she informed me, “every fashion designer needs to know how to sew!”

Her passion for creating led us to undertake some crafting activities. And right at my dining room table, the start-up of a six-year old’s microenterprise began to transpire. She asked for paper and markers to draw me a picture. I rummaged through a closet and produced a small storage container full of random crafting supplies. One peek into that box and her plan to simply draw me a picture turned into the vision for an entire product line.

She took the confidence that she had for her own skills and combined that with the resources within that container, and before I could say Wobizzle.com, production was underway.

She began creating her mixed-media artwork, an outdoor scene of three Christmas trees, using her paper, markers and random items from the crafting container. When she was finished, she immediately began production on another, then another, then another. As she began each new piece, she announced the intended recipient of the work. I was delighted that I made the list. Five pieces later, she concluded her work day and we retired to the living room to watch a video.

As I watched her operate, I realized there were a few business lessons to be learned from this young entrepreneur.

Do something you love and are good at

My young friend not only enjoys creating art, but also has a great amount of confidence in her ability to do it. She took pride in each piece and was certain that the individuals she would be giving the pieces to would be very pleased with the product. Her love for her craft kept her happy and motivated as she kept the production line moving.

Know your target customer

This “kinderpreneur” had the benefit of knowing her “customers” by name. That’s not possible for every business owner, but every business owner should attempt to understand who her target customers are, what they want and how she can meet their needs. Dig deeper than just demographics, try to understand them as people.

Know your strengths, outsource accordingly

After a few unsuccessful attempts of trying to glue sequins onto the paper, my young guest enlisted my help to handle the job. She realized that she didn’t have the skills to do it efficiently, so she outsourced the task. The result was that the job got done and she was able to spend her valuable time on the portion of the project that required her expertise.

So, today I challenge you to channel your inner six-year old. Draw out the confidence and imagination you had at age six (I know it’s in there somewhere), combine it with the skills, experience, knowledge and street smarts you have developed in your adult life and simply believe. Believe in yourself and your ability to turn your great idea into a business success.

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