Whatever You Do, DON'T Do This...(and other small business tips and tricks)
I basically could hit "publish" on my next book at any point. However, I haven't because I am having fun blogging, tweaking our content calendars for The Party Goddess! and The Profit Goddess! and, well, confession, maybe the second book should be about something else altogether.
Pricing and productivity are really my two sweet spots in business. I LOVE them, am obsessed with them, read constantly and could share endless numbers of tips and tricks about either subject. My first book covered that stuff, and the second goes way deeper. But a lot of my presentations, podcasts, etc have been about FAILURE. And clearly I'm obsessed with that.
Good thing actually, because I've had plenty of it.
Net/net, I really think the second book or some kind of massive e-book or checklist should be about "What NOT To Do." In other words, look at all the dumb, lame, ridiculously stupid things (in hindsight of course, they seemed fairly ok at the time which makes me feel even lamer).
Without further ado, here's the damn list. Or the beginning of it. I must really love you guys because this is some painful stuff. Ick.
Whatever You Do, DON'T Do This (and other small business tips and tricks) List, Part 1):
- ...Hire the wrong people. (This is really a how to hire post from the girl who has made more hiring mistakes than anyone I know). It's just so tempting to pop someone in the slot. You've got a spot that needs filling, you're desperate for relief, you get a resume, or, in my case are presented with a warm body who seems relatively intelligent, and you hire them, well, because they SAID they were fabulous. Oh God, DON'T DO IT!!!!! Takes me to my next point.
- ...Rush. This is the laugh of the century because I move at warp speed most of the time. And see where it's gotten me. You're right, it's gotten me far in some cases, but it has so creamed me too. Takes me to my next point.
- ...Forget to make a list. Write out exactly what you want from the person in the role. Come back to that list often. Add to it, re-rank the priorities, and, add to it. Again. Not sure about you, but I'm really good at identifying what I don't want in the heat of someone doing, well, what I don't want. After that, as traumatic as the experience was, I tend to forget how g.d. annoying it was and how blasted expensive.
- ...Forget to network constantly (even when you don't have spots!). Thanks to a very, very, very smart guy with whom I am lucky to be acquainted, Dan Berger, over at Social Tables, I bought a book called Who, by Geoff Smart and Randy Street. He highly recommended it to me when I was at Georgetown last week guest lecturing and judging the entrepreneurship competitions with him. He has like a 100% hiring success rate thanks to a lot of what he learned in the book. This tip does double duty: Because I met Dan networking, I got a book, Who, that talks about networking constantly so you have plenty of A players on deck BEFORE you need them. (That way you don't have to rush and pick the wrong person - see every point above). Thanks Dan, for so many things.
- ...Minimize the power of collecting data. On yourself. And your process. Entrepreneurs are moving a mile a minute, largely because we have to wear about 4,000 hats, so I get it, business is tough, but there are shortcuts. Good shortcuts in this case. I love Evernote. I really should freaking write for them. Here's how I use them to hire: I create a notebook for "Staff" Notes and in it I have a page for each of the following: MY hot buttons (ie - don't be late, typos), great interview questions, qualities the person must have, stuff I just cannot tolerate, how to train the person, who should train them on certain aspects of things, etc. This is the "how to" part of Tip #3.
So, what do you think? Want more?
What can I help with? Which hiring tip resonated the most with you? ...And let's talk soon?!! 🙂
Marley
P.S. - If you're stuck in your business, struggling with how to price and charge what you're worth, please don't hesitate to email us at Info@ThePartyGoddess.com. We're really good and fast at fixing it!
Dearest Ms. Vulnerable, you are sooooooooooooo awesome. I few days ago I read a quote from Babe Ruth: “You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.” I think this fits you very well. Oh, yes, your book proposal – I think it will be very helpful to a lot of people – well, the honest ones anyway.
Go for it!
Thank you for your support and for reading my blog!
Hi Marley,
Love your blogs and notes to us! Thanks…
As someone who was in the employment industry (had my own temporary help service CITY PERSONNEL for 10 years- you can only imagine the stories I have0 – Taking time to HIRE THE RIGHT PERSON is critical and having in place measurements so once they are hired and don’t measure up one is able to terminate and replace with the right one. “Carrying” the wrong employee at a company is not only financially bad for the employer but also terrible morale for the other ‘good employees”.
Thanks for your common sense and critical comments!
Wendy
Thanks so much, Wendy!