There are seven common mistakes that people make that can kill their business. Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some of those mistakes – to help you avoid them.
MISTAKE 5 – Bringing In The Wrong People
It’s great if you’ve recognised and acted upon the need to bring in external people, however, many business owners hire in their own image – so the gaps are not actually filled. It’s also common for the recruitment to be left until the last minute (to save costs) and so a rush decision is made, potential problems are overlooked, references are not checked, and business partners and shareholders are not consulted so they never really “buy in” to the new recruit.
It’s easy to rely on friends and family – who may be good enough in the early stages – but in the longer term they can be a constraint, and a very tricky problem to deal with later on.
Remember, no matter how good someone is, if there’s a difference in values, then the only questions that matter are “When will the row happen?” and “On what subject will it be?”
If you are considering using a consultant/advisor/mentor it can be hard to choose the right one, so find out;
- How much real world experience do they have?
- Is it relevant to what you need?
- Are their skills and experience complimentary to yours?
- Do you have mutual respect? How important will you be to them?
- Do they know their own limits?
- What networks and contacts do they bring?
- Will they let you talk to their clients to get a feel of how they work?
Make sure you are comfortable with all these areas before committing yourself.
Hilary Briggs
A management consultant with over 15 years of industrial experience having held senior management positions at Rover Group, Whirlpool Corporation and The Laird Group plc. For the last 10 years, she’s worked with SME’s to improve their performance. Hilary is Managing Director of productivity specialists R2P Ltd.
