Women Entrepreneurs And Their Greatest Starting Lineups: How To Hire a Champion Team
Posted: Friday, November 13, 2009
by Michele DeKinder-Smith
Jane Out of the Box
There comes a point in the life of a successful female entrepreneur where she is ready to take the plunge. Her sales are up, her workload has increased, and she needs help. Enter the team. Hiring the right team is a process that strikes fear in the hearts of some business owners and excitement in the hearts of others. Since success and accomplishment have led to the need for a great starting lineup, why not make the hiring process a success, too?
Go Jane Go is passionate about her work, and has no problem marketing and selling herself, so she has plenty of clients-but she's struggling to keep up with demand. She may be a classic overachiever, taking on volunteer opportunities as well, because she's eager to make an impact on the world and may really struggle saying "no". Because she wants to "say yes" to so many people, she may even be in denial about how many hours she actually works during the course of a week. As a result, she may be running herself ragged or sometimes feel guilty about the list of goals not yet achieved.
Until now, Go Jane Go has always thought she could do everything herself. And why not? She is successful, she knows what she's doing, and she's smart. But she's overwhelmed, and the simple fact that she's even considering hiring a team means she must really be ready. Throughout the hiring process, Go Jane Go will be torn between hiring people she simply likes and hiring people she knows will get the job done.
Pros and cons:
- Pro: Business is all about relationships for Go Jane Go. So when she's putting a team together, she'll be making a commitment to the people she hires she'll care about their success and they'll be drawn to her as a result.
- Con: Go Jane Go, in her desire to create a wonderful working and growing environment for everyone, may hire people based on their "potential" rather than their true skills today. She may overlook some weaknesses or developmental areas and as a result, may find herself needing to do more training than anticipated. Because she may avoid what she perceives as confrontation, Go Jane Go might begin "cleaning up after" her own team, thereby putting more work (and frustration) on her plate.
- Pro: Go Jane Go knows ALL the intricate details of how her business runs, and she knows exactly how she wants things done in the way that best meets her business' needs. Further, she's intuitive in working with others.
- Con: Because she's intuitive, has high standards, and is accustomed to doing everything herself, Go Jane Go may have a very difficult time delegating. Because she runs her business intuitively, she may also not realize that she has an underlying system she follows to do the work. As a result, she may not have documented steps for each team member to follow and may again find herself doing more training or explaining than she expected.
Accidental Jane is a successful, confident business owner who never actually set out to start a business. Instead, she may have decided to start a business due to frustration with her job or a layoff and decided to use her business and personal contacts to strike out on her own. Or, she may have started making something that served her own unmet needs and found other customers with the same need, giving birth to a business. Accidental Jane enjoys what she does and is creating a satisfactory level of income.
Some Accidental Janes got out of the corporate world because they were fed up with the politics. Others simply want to be in control of their own destiny. Because many Accidental Janes were so good at what they did when they worked full-time, it's just a matter of time before the demand for their services grows to the point that they need to hire some help.
Pros and cons:
- Pro: Tired of political games in big corporations, Accidental Jane is determined not to create an overly structured, constraining work environment. She wants people to feel empowered.
- Con: Hiring a team can seem daunting to Accidental Jane if she feels like she escaped from the corporate world. She may feel reluctant to commit to employees because she doesn't want to feel shackled to an office or a particular schedule for this reason she might prolong hiring someone as long as possible.
- Pro: She's so good at what she does, clients are clamoring for Accidental Jane's service or product.
- Con: If she waits too long to hire someone, based on concerns of having to return to a very structured work life, Accidental Jane will miss out on the joys of working with part-time contractors who can make valuable contributions to her business. She may find herself needing to rush the hiring process by waiting too long to begin.
All in all, hiring a team can, and should, be an exciting time in the life of a business. For women entrepreneurs who are just plain tired and feel like they need the help, putting in place an excellent group of helpers can be just what the doctor ordered.
Interested in learning more about the five Jane types and which Jane you are? Check out www.janeoutofthebox.com
Michele DeKinder-Smith is the founder of Jane out of the Box, an online resource dedicated to the women entrepreneur community. Discover more incredibly useful information for running a small business by taking the FREE Jane Types Assessment at Jane out of the Box. Offering networking and marketing opportunities, key resources and mentorship from successful women in business, Jane Out of the Box is online at www.janeoutofthebox.com
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