I’ve been making some phone calls today, doing initial interviews for a position we are looking to fill here at Everest Web. Before I made the calls I made a list of questions to ask the potential candidates. The position requires a wide variety of skills- and honestly, looking forward at how we may be expanding- just might require an even wider variety than anticipated. Hiring as an entrepreneur can be tricky. Rich and Ron have written a few sections of the book on this subject. Their best advice: when you think you need to hire, think again. Rich had an experience where he sold off a few of his businesses and resultantly needed to let a lot of his large team go. For a few months he found himself fulfilling the duties of a fully-staffed office all on his own. Granted, he wasn’t able to take care of things in as much detail as 10 people had, but he was able to maintain the status quo and keep everything going quite well.  What did he learn from this experience?  Sometimes we spend LOT of time and money on people that aren’t necessary.  Nice, yes.  Productive, yes.  Necessary?  No.  Always run at least a person short of what you think you need, and you’d be surprised.  Employees are happier when they are filling real duties and have actual responsibility, and you’ll save a lot of money.

So, taking this into consideration when hiring, you need to ask the kinds of questions that allow you to find out if the applicant a) can multi task  b) is able to branch out and fill holes where necessary c) is excited to learn new skills and be part of a dynamic team environment.  Of course, everyone will say yes to these questions.  So, to find out what they really think, try asking questions like:

What strengths would you bring to our team?

Are there other aspects of the company (outside your own specific responsibilities) that you currently work for that you’ve felt interested in exploring?

How do you feel about collaboration?  Do you like to own and lead a project, or share in the responsibility?

How do you feel about attending seminars/workshops to gain new skills to benefit the workplace?

Ask questions that they won’t have blanket answers for.  Just get them talking!  You can take a look at your own business environment and decide on some specific questions that are relevant to your venture.  First and foremost, this will allow you to get an honest taste of their personality.  Also, you’ll quickly weed out people who simply want a “job;” somewhere they can go, do the same thing everyday, and never have to leave their comfort zones.   I’d be interested in hearing any other interviewing techniques that you’ve used to find multi-skilled, high-energy team members for your venture.

I’m only in the first stages: initial phone interviews.   Bringing them in will add a whole new dimension to your interview and your ability to sense whether or not they’ll be a good match for you and your team.

For the past couple months at Everest Web, we’ve been looking for engineers and designers to add to our team.  Recently, we also put the word out that we’ll be hiring an  administrative assistant.  With the business expanding and more and more work to be done- there should be a few more people in this office than I’ve been accustomed to.  It’s been interesting to watch the prep work.

A lot of care and consideration has been taken to find the right spot for everyone.  We have a suite with 4 offices, two rather large, and two private, in addition to the admin desk up front.  As long as I have been here, Rich and Ron have huddled up in what they call the “War Room,” a room all the way in the back with extensive white board space and a great view.  That’s where all of the heavy lifting is done.  I usually sit sentinel up front- taking care of the basic admin tasks while working on the book.  The other three offices have mostly been empty, aside from a few people making use of them for different projects every so often.  I was surprised when Rich and Ron said that they’d be moving out, and letting the engineers  take the big room in the back.  They’ll split up and go into the empty offices- and when the admin is hired I’ll probably move into another of the large offices, perhaps on my own for awhile- until more writers or engineers are added to the team.

Why, you may ask, is this interesting to me?  I watched as Rich and Ron walked the office and talked over the possibilities.  The office up front is beautiful, with an amazing view- but it’s easy to get distracted with people walking in and out all the time.  Also, with as much work as Rich and Ron do together, I thought it would be a pain to be in separate rooms.  But here’s the thing: do you want to be in a position where you have to resist distraction yourself, or do you want your team of engineers to have to deal with it?  Do you want easy communication with your partner, or would you like your engineers to be able to collaborate and communicate quickly and efficiently?  Although it may be more comfortable to make people work around you (as a business owner, you certainly have the ability to make that happen), it may be more effective to work around them.  Rich always says that we have to keep the engineering team happy, well fed, and far away from other people.  So, they get the War Room, far from the front door and close to the snacks- and Rich and Ron will make a change.

For the holiday yesterday my family and I hiked up to Timpanogos Cave, at about 6,700 feet in elevation.  Although it’s probably just a “baby” hike to anyone who has spent time in the Himalayas or climbing the worlds major peaks, it was quite a climb for a girl born and raised at sea level.  We started out, paced ourself well, and ended up getting about 3/4 of the way up the mountain in about half an hour.  We took a rest to catch our breath and get some water, and when I stood up to get going again, I was hit with an incredible wave of dizziness.  There was an unpleasant, popping-type tension in my ears, and although I knew people were talking to me,  I couldn’t hear what they were saying.  We were so close to the top! For a second I thought that I could just tough it out.  I decided to ignore the frustrating things happening with my body and push forward. I gave it a try, but before I even got on my feet I knew it just wasn’t going to happen.  I gave in, and decided to take a break.  I drank some water and waited until I wasn’t feeling so dizzy before we started up again.  After each steep climb I took a break for a second, just breathing deeply and taking some pictures.  Turns out, we got to the top in plenty of time to meet our tour group at the cave.

As I’ve worked on Bootstrap Business with Rich and Ron, I’ve gone through many passages drawing parallels between hiking and building businesses.  As I was sitting on Mount Timp yesterday, I got it.  I felt pressure to get up the mountain as fast as I could.  I didn’t know how high it was or what it would take.  I didn’t have a clue as to what my body could handle or what it needed as it got used to the climbing altitude.  All I knew what that I had a goal: to get to the cave.  I found that it was easy for my body to feel “tricked” while climbing.  I didn’t feel thirsty or sweaty, and there was a nice breeze in the Canyon that kept us cool.  As a result, I didn’t take care of myself the way I needed to, and almost risked having to come back down the mountain having not seen the cave.  (In all fairness, my brother graciously offered to drag me up the rest of the way by my boots if necessary.  Thanks bro.)

In a chapter entitled, Climb High, Sleep Low, Rich talks about his time hiking in Nepal with his family.  He learned that in climbing the worlds highest peaks, you can’t gain over a thousand feet of altitude a day.  If you sleep more than a thousand feet higher than you did the night before, you risk some serious damage to your brain and body.  Although the big goal of the expedition is to get to the top, the most important aspect of any climb is the pacing.

Right now Everest Web is expanding.  We’re hearing a lot of names flowing through the office that are rather exciting.  It’s so easy to get caught up in the big goal and rush things that cannot be rushed.  As humans we get an idea in our head and want to have the details worked out and finalized: now!  Turns out, things are rarely that cut and dry.  There are too many variables, both in terms of our own ability to do the work and the customers’ willingness to commit.  In the end, if we push ourselves or our customers too hard, we’ll either burn ourselves out with the work or scare the customer off with our unmasked enthusiasm.  Thus, we need a few tips to keep the workload and our own eagerness under control. Here are some tips from the upcoming book.

- Set rewards along the way, this will satisfy your need for immediate gratification and keep you working long term.

- Set limits and bounds to the amount of time you spend at work.   Communicate with the people in your life the needs of the business, so that when the time for a big push comes, they will understand your need to work more.

- Put levels of escalation in place.  Make sure your phone system is set up in a professional way, even going through an admin or a secretary if possible.  You cannot always be available.  This places a buffer between you and the client, and makes sure that you’re not reacting too quickly.

-  Write everything out in a place where you can see it.  Whether you use a whiteboard or another planning tool- being able to see upcoming tasks, accounts receivable, and critical appointments will help your pacing.  Set a schedule and stick to it.  Don’t rush, don’t fall behind; keep an even pace.

-  Use someone as a sounding board.  We can’t always see what’s wrong with a situation.  When I was on the mountain, I didn’t feel hot or thirsty, but I was.  Someone had to tell me what to do to get myself out of my predicament.  It may seem simple, and although you may be quite capable, it is sometimes hard to see the easiest solutions.  Get a dialog in place with partners or co-workers, family and friends to keep things under control.

As a side note, I guess all I have left to do to before I REALLY fit in around the office is take up golfing.  We’ll see how that goes.

I seem to write about money a lot.  I’m learning that in order to be successful at maintaining and growing your small business, you have to know where your money is at all times.  Big corporations may have the advantage of having huge budgets and big backers- but they don’t have the flexibility that a small company has in managing it.  Rich and Ron have a system for handling their accounts receivable that I’ve never seen anywhere else.  A couple weeks ago, we updated the “board.”  The AR board is where Rich and Ron list, in detail, the people/companies that owe them money, how much money is owed, and when it’s due.  Right now, by simply turning my head, I can see how much money we’re meant to get and when.  What may be scary about this system is that anyone can know at any time how many accounts the business is handling, if they’re making money or riding on reserves, or if people are reluctant to pay.  On the other hand, I am able to properly handle different types of relationships with supplier/customers as they come in/call, and feel like a part of a team.  The knowledge I’m entrusted with helps me to feel invested and responsible for all aspects of the business, not just my specific jobs of editing and answering phones.  It wouldn’t work in a larger environment- but it’s a perk of being and entrepreneur and a small business owner.

Everest Web is expanding! New developments have led to the need for some new people. The hiring process has always intrigued me. Going into an interview, someone usually has the upper hand. In my case (and in my limited experience) I’m usually the one proving that I can do what the job demands. In the case of small businesses with limited budgets, however, they may have to “pitch” the job to a qualified individual who is accustomed to corporate treatment, full benefits, etc. I found an interesting article by Andy Sack called Entrepreneurial Hiring: Think Salesmanship. Sack proposes that in the bootstrapping world, you have to treat applicants like customers. You have to sell them on the position. If the owners really believe in their venture and know that it will be an amazing opportunity for the applicant, salesmanship flows naturally. The applicant will feel the excitement and energy around the project and want the job. I think salesmanship can have a bad connotation. I imagine those pesky people in department-stores trying to convince you that you absolutely need to sign up for their in-store credit card. I don’t think that this is what Andy had in mind when he equated the selling-model and hiring practices, but it could certainly go in that direction.