All right. Why is it so hard? This is what I asked you, okay? Because entrepreneurs have a hard time evaluating technical competencies where they don't have any experience. What do I mean by that? What I mean by that? Let's say I'm a super sales person, which I'm not, we're playing make believe here, okay? I'm a super salesperson and the business is growing and I need somebody in finance. Well, I'm not in account. I don't know accounting. I don't know really how to create a financial statement, but I gotta hire a CFO. Now, how do I know whether that person in interview is blowing smoke? How do I know when they start throwing out all these words that they even apply? How do I know that I need that much sophistication? How do I evaluate technical competence if I haven't done it myself? Then, poor hiring processes and this can apply at all levels in a business. More too often, small businesses put off hiring to, they're basically up to their eyeballs, okay, in stuff that has to get done. And the first warm body that walks through the door, you're it. You're my person. Well, I don't have to basically explain. I understand the necessity of that, I understand human nature. But, okay, I mean, that's like idiocy, all right? You gotta have processes. What type of person are you looking for? Have you written that down? What type of skills do you need at a minimum? What type of cultural fit are you looking for? Do you really understand your culture? Who's going to fit with your team that you already have? Who's going to interview the person? Just you? Or some of your team members? Are two people going to interview at the same time, interview the person same time or one? Why should two people interview? Because, people will hear different things and the person not asking the question will also be getting impressions from body language. People's comfort level, alright? Are you going to have people, in effect, come back different days? Are you only going to interview people that someone that in your business knows personally or that you have a personal reference on? How are you going to source people? High growth creates this urgency which you have to manage against. A big problem is hiring people that just don't fit the culture. What values, what's important to you, what, how people treat each other, okay, how they treat customers, alright? Do you want somebody that wants to basically learn and grow and be a professional? Or you just want somebody that's just looking for a paycheck, for short-term, or medium term? And how do you find out those answers in talking to people? Well, you gotta ask questions, you know, questions like, what's the most challenging, biggest challenge you had in your last job? How did you solve that challenge? What was the best person you worked with at your last job? Why was that person good? Who was the worst person you worked with at your last job? Why was that person so bad? All those questions, it will give you evidence, about that person that you're talking to considering hiring. Those are just examples, okay? The other problem that people have is, is they underestimate the difficulty that corporate types, people that come from big businesses have in transitioning to small entrepreneur companies. Well, let's think about this. Why would a person who worked for a big company have a problem coming to a small entrepreneur business? You got any ideas? Think about it. In a big business, you got a defined job and you got lots of other people doing lots of things. You've got lots of support, okay? You come to a small business. You like to do your own photocopying. You're going to have to basically, you know, put the stamps on your own envelope, right? You have to do everything. A lot of people coming out of a big company can't function when they've got to do everything, right? You know, it's like, I'll give you a perfect example. Before I came to teaching, ten years ago, I was in big companies. Okay? I went to big companies after I, I did an entrepreneurial venture. And I had a whole support staff. I never made plane reservations. I never made travel arrangements, hotel. I never made meeting appointments. I had people that did that, you know? I come to academia which is an entrepreneur, yes, it is an entrepreneurial environment for a professor. And well, okay, make my own plane reservations, make my own hotel, make my own appointments. It was easy for me, okay? No problem, but for some people, it's hard and you gotta figure out. That corporate type you're interviewing, has he or she ever been in entrepreneurial company? And if the answer is yes, why'd you leave? Are you more comfortable with having all these people doing this stuff for you? Or are you willing to go back and basically carry the hammer, and the screwdriver, and the pliers, and the nails, the paper clips, the pens then do it yourself? Because, if you're not willing to do it yourself, you're not going to be a team player. Time for a quiz. Purpose of the quiz is, is to test your learning up to this point. Okay? This is for you. Alright? It'll only take a few minutes. Go to it. I'll be right here.
