As entrepreneurs, we all want to be superheroes in business.
By that, I mean entrepreneurs want to do and control everything.
When I first started A1 Garage, I felt like I was the only one who could get the job done correctly. After all, I was the one who built my business up from scratch.
I was the one who created a company and a brand – out of nothing.
I was the one who turned my passion from a mere dream into an actual, revenue-generating business.
Then I realized there was a big problem.
How could I possibly scale my business just by myself?
For me, it was tough to move away from what I call the “Superhero Syndrome”, and to start hiring and delegating. But today, we have over 140 great employees in 7 states, and I couldn’t have grown the company this much without them.
Today, I’d like to discuss three of the most common mental blocks why entrepreneurs (including myself) are hesitant to grow their team. I’ll also give you some of my tried and tested tips on hiring, and building a highly effective team.
#1: “I think my employees aren’t as capable as I am.”
You might’ve looked at some of your candidates (or even existing employees) and thought: “Hang on a second. I can do their jobs better than they can. Why should I hire them then?”
You’re not alone. Phil Libin, Co-founder and CEO of Evernote, also confessed to having those exact same thoughts. In an interview, he said: “I would look at a programmer and think, “I could write that system faster, but I don’t have the time.” I would look at a sales guy and think, “I’m better at selling our product than he is, but I don’t have time to go on every sales call.”
Phil realised there were only a few people in his company that he never had the urge to micro-manage – two of them were engineers, and one was a designer. The common thread amongst these three team members? They were all much better at their jobs than he was. Upon realizing this, Phil decided to implement a rule. Everyone who worked under him had to be much better at doing their job than he could ever be. In fact, many notable entrepreneurs talk about the importance of having A players in your team, including the late Steve Jobs.
Now, you might wonder, “I’m not the CEO of Evernote or Steve Jobs. How am I going to attract immensely capable people to work for me?”
But even if you’re not a multinational corporation, don’t give up – and definitely don’t settle for less. A hack that I believe in when it comes to attracting A players is paying 20% above the market rate. Even when I first started out, I always made it a point to pay my employees a bit more than my competitors. Yes, this adds up to quite a fair bit, but it’s worth it: the best people will perform 10x than the average employee, so you pay for what you get. I recommend hiring one A player at a time – as much as your budget permits. Never compromise on this!
#2: “My employees can’t possibly know the business as well as I do…”
As the founder of your business, you have a perspective that no employee can replace you. However, with the proper systems and processes, your hires will be able to execute tasks based on the vision and standards you have.
For example, McDonald’s was able to revolutionize the fast food industry, because they run it like a machine: their workflow was optimized down to the minutest of details, such as the number of squirts of ketchup which go on a burger patty.
In my company, that’s how we do it too: we have checklists that our technicians and salespeople follow every single time when dealing with a client, so that they always perform to our company’s standards.
When you have your processes and systems set up properly, you’re essentially giving your employees all the tools they need to perform their jobs well. You’ll also be empowering yourself to spend less time meddling in the day-to-day operations of your business, and spending more time looking at the big picture.
#3: “I don’t want to risk hiring toxic employees.”
You might shy away from hiring because you’re worried about introducing toxic employees into your team. I get it: even with just one “bad apple”, you could very well have team morale go down the drain.
What should you do to avoid such a business disaster then? What if the person is a top performer in your company? The key is no compromises, TV host and chef Anthony Bourdain sums it up perfectly when he says:
“It is truly a privilege to live by what I call the “no asshole” rule. I don’t do business with assholes. I don’t care how much money they are offering me, or what project. Life is too short.”
Specifically, from my (painful) experiences, I recommend firing any toxic employee immediately and not giving him or her second chances (even if he or she is a superstar.) And, to prevent this from happening in the first place, I get my HR to do their homework on the candidate. Other than speaking to your candidate’s list of references, I would also recommend doing a bit of “ethical stalking” (i.e. talking with people who worked with your candidate outside the given list of references.)
If your candidate passes the initial test and interview, try a “test job” where you put your candidate in the field with a seasoned employee to test their abilities on the field. Even after hiring, you should monitor your new hire at work. I use internal systems to track my employees’ activities so I know for sure they’re behaving with integrity. I also tune in to customer feedback and keep an eye on employees whose service levels aren’t up to standard. With the right monitoring, supervision and guidance, your employees won’t be tempted to take shortcuts (or, if they do – you’ll be the first to find out).
Are You Ready To Hire Now?
I’ve been in the exact same situation that you are in – and believe me when I say that NOT being a one-man-show is crucial to your business success. Once you get past your own resistance and start building your team, it will be a complete gamechanger. It’s when you can grow the vision that you have for your company far beyond you working 11 to 12 hours a day. I personally was working towards a goal of generating $50 million with my business per year, and I knew that there was no way it would happen if I didn’t build and groom my team.
Take some time to do a little soul-searching, and be honest with yourself. Can you grow your business with your existing manpower and resources, or are you keeping yourself from achieving your goals?
Once you’re done thinking things through, it’s time to kick start things, and put up your job ad(s).
I’ll see you in the big leagues.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.