HOW TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS

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The kind of employees, you hire as a small business owner will determine, whether your business dies or survives. Here are 10 Steps on hiring the right employees for your Small business.

My business was at the verge of collapse. We where a sinking ship that’s burning. We recorded sales of Just over a k100,000 the entire year. Slightly less than our operational costs. I tried to explain to my then 3 employees, that in a small business exceptional customer service, advertising, Personal selling, hard work, creativity and dedication where essential, to drive Sales and where mandatory tasks for everyone.

However, they had a government employee mentality of just reporting for work, and not caring whether we sold or not because a government pay check, will still come in.

As the captain, before my ship could finally Colapse. I decided to fire everyone. Yes, everyone fired. and replaced them with a new team of employees.

The new employees, turned over k700,000 in sales that year. We moved from a k100,000 in sales to over k700,000 in sales. We had the same product, same shop location, same business with just a different set of employees who had a better attitude towards work.

Here are 10 Lessons on how you can hire the right set of employees for your Small business.

Avoid, hiring Friends and family. If you are to do so, hire them based on Merit, good work attitude and qualifications. Don’t hire people you can’t fire. If you hire a freind or family, make it known to them that they will be treated like anyone else. They can be fired for underperformance and put behind bars (police), if they messed with business Funds .
When you need new employees, dont ask your current employees to bring a freind, this Makes the new employees loyal to their friends and not you. In addition, they can easily collude into theft. Instead, make a job advertisement and call for applications letters.
A Great job advertisement attracts Professionals and qualified prospects. Make a nice and presentable job advertisement design.
Define, the Job descriptions and what kind of qualities, Skills, attitude and qualifications you need and expect .
Prepare your questions prior to the job interview.
Interview atleast 10 people for one job offer. This ensures, variety, diversity, efficiency and quality of selection.
After the Selection, conduct a training and orientation. Teach your employee about their Job descriptions. Make your expectations and desired results known.

Even if it’s a Small shop or kiosk. Teach them on how you want them to attend to customers and Conduct a Sale. Don’t expect them to just figure it out.

Some people are good at talking but can’t execute the job and perform according to their Sweet talk made during interviews. Hence, before finally hiring Someone. Put them on a 1 to 3 months probation and assess them based on actual work output.
Output based Salary. The more productivity or Sales one brings into the business, the more they get paid. This keeps employees inspired and motivated, because they feel part and parcel of the company’s growth.

10.Reward Good behavior and performance. Punish bad behavior and under performance.