Yep, first and foremost we KNOW it takes a GREAT deal of effort to hire someone in the first place, you are concerned about paying them and you have to take the time to train them. You wonder if it’s worth it. The answer my friends is YES it is. You will KILL yourself working 14 hour days, the years will fly by and you will not have a life. I know MANY black entrepreneurs who endure this on a day to day and it’s not smart. You CAN hire someone and you DON’T have to do the work yourself, you just have to find ways to pay them like hiring them a month at a time or part time. When we make money that is NOT the time to go out and treat yourself to a new car or some extravagant gift (though you should treat yourself) but this is the time to ease the tension and to fork over some of the day to day to someone else to free you up to focus on the things you probably have been ignoring like sales or billing. You will certainly hire the wrong people from time to time as I have and here are some suggestions to avoid costly mistakes in hiring… (click “NEXT” after each segment above or below)
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Hire people who have a career interest in your field.
I have struck gold with this several times. When People feel like there is a benefit to them, they tend to show more interest and they are more eager to work. Make sure you are not greedy and preventing them from meeting people in your field but meet the first few people with them to see how they represent themselves and your business.
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Interns are Nice BUT…
They are doing if for college credit and you may find some great ones or you may find others that are a complete waste of your time. If they are doing a full load during the semester, they are going to be very busy and they may not be able to dedicate the time and effort you need.
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Stop being Greedy and PAY
I know many black entrepreneurs that have the money to pay someone they are just greedy and don’t want to and they want everything for next to nothing or free. Here is where that famous saying come in handy.. .You GET what you pay for and if you pay for nothing you get nothing.
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Come up with written instructions on how to do the job..
This will save you a TON of time and effort from repeatedly explaining to new people how the job is done. When you hire people who don’t work out you will not KILL yourself training them over and over taking valuable time out of the day that you need to run the business.
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Hire People who Think Like You.
Ideally, you want people who can mimic you hence the saying, I need 2 of me, when you find someone like that, it takes SO much stress and strain off of you. If you hire a younger person who is interested in your field you will most likely come across someone like this.
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Hire an Older More Experienced Person and Pay what You Can
I have hired older workers in my industry and I have felt guilty about offering them $10.00 an hour like I would someone younger but if that’s all I have in my budget and they are doing the same job, then that’s all that I need to do. There are times that older workers are very set in their ways, as we all are when we get older and want to do things their way and that’s fine with me as long as it gets done. You don’t want someone who will get people in your industry on the phone and talk about the good ol days, business is still business and we all have jobs to do so you may need to watch and monitor what’s happening on your dime.