Hiring a Winning Team: How Three Types of Women Entrepreneurs Put it Together

As a business becomes increasingly successful, an entrepreneur must examine her business’ changing needs and implement a system for meeting them. Booming success often means hiring a team of people to see to the details so the entrepreneur has time to run the business. Creating a winning team is a bit more complicated than just asking a bunch of people for help – is there a right way to do it? Is there a way to go about it that will leave members of the team, as well as the owner, feeling fulfilled while the business thrives?

 

A new study from Jane Out of the Box, an authority on women entrepreneurs, recently revealed there are five distinct types of women in business. Each of these five types has unique approach to running a business—and as a consequence, each of them has a unique combination of characteristics and factors. This article profiles three of the Jane “types” and the different ways they may handle hiring a team.

 

Jane Dough is an entrepreneur who enjoys running her business and makes good money. She is comfortable and determined in buying and selling, which may be why she’s five times more likely than the average female business owner to hit the million dollar mark. Jane Dough is clear in her priorities and may be intentionally and actively growing an asset-based or legacy business. It is estimated that 18% of women fall in the category of Jane Dough.

 

To Jane Dough, business is business. In her world, systems and efficiency share the throne. When hiring a team, she is likely to choose members based on their specific skill sets and how those skill sets and their exacting implementation will affect the system she plans on using.

 

Pros and cons:

Pro: Because Jane Dough is a pragmatic business owner, she’ll choose team members who know what they’re doing, and do it well. Con: Because Jane Dough is so focused on pragmatism, she may hire team members who don’t get along well with each other – personalities aren’t as important to her as efficiency and a job well done. But down the road, conflicting personalities may negatively impact the system she loves. Pro: Jane Dough’s fast pace means she gets a lot done and doesn’t waste too much time waffling on decisions about whether to hire someone. Con: That fast pace is enough to make anyone’s head spin, and if Jane Dough isn’t careful she may overlook a candidate with better long-term potential in favor of someone who fits the bill right now – putting her future self at a disadvantage.

 

Merry Jane. This entrepreneur is usually building a part-time or “flexible time” business that gives her a creative outlet (whether she’s an ad agency consultant or she makes beautiful artwork) that she can manage within specific constraints around her schedule.  She may have a day-job, or need to be fully present for family or other pursuits. She realizes she could make more money by working longer hours, but she’s happy with the tradeoff she has made because her business gives her tremendous freedom to work how and when she wants, around her other commitments. 

Because Merry Jane is “freedom-focused,” she’ll need a team that allows her to continue working as many or as few hours as she wants to, which means that she’ll have to be flexible with their schedules, too.

 

Pros and cons:

Pro: Merry Jane loves her freedom, so she’ll hire dependable people who can do their jobs without a ton of direction. Con: Loving her freedom can come at a price – Because her business may not be her first priority, communication may slip from time-to-time.  If her team is unclear in what they need to do or if they take too much accountability, this can create problems for Merry Jane.  Pro: Hiring people means that Merry Jane can delegate some of her work and therefore have even greater flexibility. Con: Creating a team also adds responsibility, of which Merry Jane already has plenty – she’ll need to face payroll, meetings, e-mails and phone calls that she didn’t deal with before – and this may mean more administrative work than she anticipated.

 

Tenacity Jane is an entrepreneur with an undeniable passion for her business, but who is struggling (a little or a lot) with the business’ financial performance.  As a result, she’s working longer hours and making less money than she’d like. Nevertheless, Tenacity Jane is bound and determined to make her business a success. At 31% of women in business, Tenacity Janes are the largest single group of female entrepreneur.

 

Tenacity Jane’s greatest asset is her attitude. She may feel overwhelmed at times but she keeps on keeping on because she truly believes in the business she’s building and she wants to make it work. As she seeks to hire a team, Tenacity Jane will seek people with great attitudes like her own.

 

Pros and cons:

Pro: Tenacity Jane feels like she can make this work, despite having faced many business challenges – she has a positive, “keep chugging” attitude. Con: When hiring a team, attitude isn’t enough.  Tenacity Jane may be drawn to people who are also enthused about her business, but does she take the time to (and does she know exactly how to) evaluate their skills, experience, and preparedness to do the work at hand? Pro: Tenacity Jane loves her business concept and can see the big vision of what it can someday be, which may include a large team sometime down the road.    Con: Because she is focused on the “ultimate” vision, Tenacity Jane may not map out the path to get there step-by-step.  If this happens, she runs the risk of hiring too many people too soon (and then not being able to retain them) or hiring them in the wrong order to maximize business growth. 

 

Whether hiring a team is strictly business, or it’s a small part of a grand scheme, it’s a big deal. Women entrepreneurs shouldn’t go into it without a solid idea about who to hire, what they’ll do and how they’ll do it – and how all of that will affect the business in the short- and long-term. From Jane Dough to Merry Jane to Tenacity Jane, business owners must get a plan in place before hiring to ensure the step from one-woman-band to marching band sounds great.

 

Interested in learning more about the five Jane types and which Jane you are? Check out www.janeoutofthebox.com

 

A Better Approach to Hiring

A Better Approach to Hiring
A Better Approach to Hiring

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Offshore Staff, Virtual Staff: Why Hiring Outsourced Staff From Business Process Outsourcing Companies Considered the Perfect Business Solution

In today’s modern world, working with IT offshore staff – or any other kind of outsourced staff, online staff, virtual staff, for that matter – is no longer an impossibility. It doesn’t matter if they’re half a world away now, the wonders of information technology or business IT and split-second communication has facilitated the phenomenal growth of the Business Process Outsourcing BPO solution industry which effectively opened up tens of thousands of companies to explore the offshore labour hire option.

If until now you are still holding back or cringing at the very thought of staff outsourcing, here’s hoping that this article would make you rethink any preconceived notions you may have about contracting virtual staff.

Why Outsource Staff?

Contrary to popular belief, outsourced staff is not limited to telemarketers or call center agents. Besides IT offshore staff, more and more receptionists, copywriters, accountants, customer service specialists, marketing and personal assistants, SEO or search engine optimization services, web designers, developers, and administrators as well graphic designers and artists are becoming part of the much sought-after offshore staff labour hire force.

In the past, only large multi-national companies took notice of staff outsourcing, but company size is no longer an issue -even small and medium businesses now stand to enjoy the benefits of offshore IT staff labor hiring. Saving on labour cost is still the first and primary reason for outsourcing. Imagine contracting a qualified and experienced IT offshore staff for about 30 percent the normal cost. You can have a remote staff, online staff, IT staff, virtual staff or even a whole team of outsourced staff working efficiently on your projects even while you sleep. And take note, the quality of the output is second to none!

Another good reason for turning to offshore staff is the huge vacancies or gaps in the labour market. Since IT staff is very much in demand, there is often a shortage of applicants. Rather than settle for a newbie or wait a long time, some companies instead opt to BPO solution service of hiring an IT offshore staff to immediately fill in the position.

What Benefits Can I Get from Staff Outsourcing?

A major advantage of outsourcing staff from Business Process Outsourcing Companies are it levels the playing field between huge corporations and small and medium business owners. BPO solution of Offshore staff are providing them professional skills and talents they would normally be unable to afford.

One of the most wealthy and successful business owners Sir Richard Branson once said: “Building a successful business is about using your own skill strengths and employing people who possess the skills you do not have.” A business really cannot survive if essential skills needs are not met. Through outsourcing staff, any type and size of business can have unlimited and easy access to seasoned professionals – IT offshore staff are finally bringing them up to par with big name players – at minimum cost, and without sacrificing quality.

By outsourcing staff, you are also improving the quality of life of millions of other people across the globe. Although the cost of hiring offshore staff is relatively cheap for dollar-based economies, outsource staff consider this several notches higher than the income they would be receiving from their home country. Take the Philippines as an example, contracting an expert IT offshore staff from there would cost 70 percent less than hiring one from the US or Australia – but to them they would be making almost twice as much as the average salary – without ever having to go abroad.

How to Make the Choice Easier

Outsourcing staff from Business Process Outsourcing services can sometimes really be a worrying decision. These what ifs can take very long to resolve. Bear in mind however, that indecision may forever hold you from taking the leap and being in the league with companies who utilize outsource staff.

Here are some points to consider if you’re thinking of outsourcing staff:

Determine the staffing needs of your business or company before scouting for offshore staff.
Consider that there are companies which can provide you with dedicated IT offshore staff. This means that you don’t have to place ads and interview people – there are ready-to-hire outsourced staff who have already passed through the scrutiny of HR professionals.
Offshore staff are experienced and skilled – it will only take them a couple of days to get acquainted with the company and meet the demands of the job. You don’t need to teach them how to do the job.
Ask input from companies who have experienced hiring offshore staff – or any other kind of outsourced staff. See if they have positive or negative comments about the offshore staff they’ve contracted.
You may try outsourcing staff according to your company’s needs, be it part-time or full time. But you also must consider that dedicated outsource staff is more advisable if you have continuous workload.

Of course, even outsourced staff needs to feel that they belong to a team. Even your virtual staff would need motivation and encouragement from you and the rest of team to continuously deliver on time and top-caliber work. By embracing outsource staff as members of your team, they’d be more inclined to work and be more committed to you and your business.

Deciding now

With today’s current trends, you’d definitely have more to gain when you measure the cost-benefit of contracting offshore staff from a trusted Business Process Outsourcing Company. These are just some of the advantages of outsourcing staff to make your business more successful. The real deal will be apparent when you yourself experience the life changing effects of having these virtual staff working for your projects. More and more technological advances are now being used to ensure quality work for your money’s worth. You can be assured that many offshore staff providers equip their clients with tools to specifically to help them manage and work effectively with their BPO offshore staff.

Some of which are:

An HR manager for every outsource staff they provide you.
Tools such as the screen capture designed to check the progress of your offshore staff; and
Online sheets and communications tools.

The benefits you can get through outsourcing staff from a trusted Business Process Outsourcing Company are very significant; they are real and are really accessible even for small business. It allows companies to cut costs, provides benefits to consumers with lower costs good and services, causes an economic expansion that brings down the level of unemployment and brings up the level of productivity and job creation. Hiring offshore staff is just one of the things that globalization has brought along, best to embrace it and make it work to your advantage. So go ahead and try out one or two outsourced staff for starters. Who knows, maybe outsourcing staff really is the best solution for company’s problems!

Hiring to Sustain Growth in Your Women-Owned Business ? 2 Things to Look for When Hiring

Women today continue to push to the forefront of small business. In fact, according to an article shown on AllBusiness.com, women-owned businesses make up one of the most dynamic sectors of the new national economy, with the majority of them growing at nearly twice the rate as other companies.

So, how can we as women business owners, entrepreneurs and executives sustain fast growth in the future?

We need to hire and manage team members effectively.

Here Are the 4 Typical Hiring Questions That We Are Asked By Our Women Entrepreneurial Coaching Clients:

* Who do we hire?
* Where do we find them?
* What should we pay them?
* How do we retain top talent?

While these questions are important, there are two issues that must be addressed first:
1. Alignment
2. Transformability

What Is Employee/Organization Alignment and Why You Need It?

Alignment addresses the passion and skills the person brings to the organization and their fit within the company. Alignment has three components:

* Passion
* Skills
* Fit

In selecting an employee, gauge their passion for the work and for the challenge it represents. Identify the skills that are needed to support the continuing fast growth of your company. It could be marketing, sales, operations, or financial skills.

Lastly evaluate how the person will fit into your organization. Fit essentially is how well the person will cope with the “way work is done around here” with the personalities, the pace and the customers.

Addressing the alignment issue without considering the transformability issue will likely result in hiring the wrong person.

What is Transformability – And Why You Should Look For It When Hiring New Employees?

Transformability is hiring the person not for the job as it exists today, but as it will exist tomorrow.

Remember you are getting ready for a new phase in your business. This means, your employees will have to adapt to new ways, new ideas and new roles as you start to experience fast growth.

You want to hire for the job as it will likely exist 12 months from today.

Why?

Because, we are talking about a fast growth company and one of the characteristics of a fast growth company is: Things change fast!

Think about the last time you changed jobs. While we all like to believe that we hit the ground running fast, most of us took time to assimilate into the new job, to the way work gets done, to what is and is not acceptable along with a myriad of other issues that pop up in a new, fast growing organization.

Now consider this: You just started feeling comfortable in your work environment. You come to work the next day and the job has changed to keep up with the fast growth. Now, you need to use new skills and knowledge. Everything is different. This is a fact of life for fast growing companies.

So, How Should Fast Growing Companies Hire for the New Economy?

One of our women owned and operated company clients who provides product-positioning services to the pharmaceutical industry was experiencing rapid growth and was having a challenge finding talent. While she initially needed to fill researcher positions, she knew that as growth continued, roles would expand and change, and she needed to adjust and support the change without having to hire new talent. That’s why she asked us if we could help her company address this challenge.

We worked with them to understand not only the job that needed to be done now, but also the likely jobs that would be needed in the future. We asked them to consider the core skills that were required for both the current and future jobs. When this was completed, a profile took shape of what was needed today and in the future. Not surprisingly, no one was easily identifiable who could meet all the criteria. We introduced the alignment and transformability concepts explaining that skills can be learned, development can take place, support can be provided. But it will only be successful if the candidates aligned well with the organization and if they demonstrated in past work that they embraced change and growth (e.g. transformability). As growth continues, they have been able to support it from within.

Now, Fast-Changing Job Requirements Are Not For the Faint of Heart or Bureaucrats!

This kind of job ambiguity isn’t for everyone. But if you consider alignment and transformability as you start the hiring process, you are being honest with yourself and your future employee. The probability that you will hire and retain the right employee increases significantly and so do your chances of becoming a company that sustains fast growth in the New Economy.

23 Critical Questions to Ask When Hiring a CPA

Question #1: Is timely service delivered?

Accounting information can get out of date quickly. Except for annual information, most accounting information should be no more than 10-30 days old. You should be able to access your up-to-date information and your CPA quickly and easily.

A proficient CPA makes it a habit to get back to clients as quickly as possible. Phone messages should be replied to the day they are left or no later than the following day.

Question #2: Do the same people always service your account?

Ideally the same person should work with you not whoever is available at the time. That way a relationship can be built where the accountant and you are comfortable with each other.

Question #3: What services beyond the usual reporting and number-crunching are offered?

A CPA needs to be more than a data entry clerk. Its their duty as an adviser to make sure the information they receive makes sense. If it doesnt, they should ask questions and seek clarity.

Question #4: How can the accountant help you make more money?

It sounds like a wise-guy question, but the answer will help you find out if candidates are interested in your business. Did they review the financial information you provided prior to the interview? Did they make sure you understood the accounting concepts, instead of tossing off a bunch of jargon?

A proficient CPAs goal to save you more in taxes it is also in his best interest that you succeed.

Question #5: Do you believe Im paying too much, too little, or just the right amount of tax?

Beyond simply preparing tax forms, an accountant should be involved in business planning throughout the year. Typically, a quarterly review should be scheduled to ensure books and records are in order. This also allows the CPA time to advise clients about their businesses so they function with peak tax efficiency.

Because most business owners pay too much in taxes, a proficient CPA will analyze the tax situation from the form of entity to all legal means to plan and minimize all taxes paid.

Question #6: Do you consider yourself tech-savvy?

Small business accounting software has made powerful accounting tools available to everyone. But these accounting packages (most notably QuickBooks) are only as useful as the person who installs and runs the application. For this reason, a proficient CPA will help you install and set up a set of books, while also requesting them for review.

Question #7: Who are your other clients?

Imagine this scenario: You hire an accountant based on the assumption he understands the basics of your business. Then, you find out hes never had a client like you before. Instead, hes only prepared tax forms for wealthy individuals who dont own businesses.

Avoid this disaster by asking about the accountants clients. If they are businesses similar to yours, thats a good sign. In asking about clients, you will also want to understand the CPAs work schedule and whether he has the time and resources to support you adequately.

Question #8: What kind of creative business advice will you offer me?

Advising clients on what they can do to grow and set goals, as well as discussing issues, are all part of a proficient CPAs services. Together, this allows you to discover what works for your business so funds are used wisely.

Question #9: Why should I use you?

Ask the question and just listen for the answer. You should feel like the CPA really cares about your success.

Question #10: What kind of credentials do you have?

Tax professionals are usually certified public accountants (CPAs), enrolled agents (EAs) or unenrolled preparers.

Question #11: How much professional education do you get annually?

Just passing the test to be a CPA or an EA isnt enough. With the tax code and interpretations of the code changing every year, continuing education is really essential. EAs are required to have 72 hours of continuing education in a three-year period; each state sets its own requirements for CPAs. In Oregon, for example, CPAs must take 80 hours of continuing education within a two-year period.

Many tax professionals take more than the minimum requirement for continuing education. Although more training doesnt necessarily mean the tax pro will be superior, its certainly not a bad sign.

Question #12: Who will I be interacting with?

Many tax firms assign more than one person to a clients return. You probably dont need to know how the back room operates, but you want to know if the person youre interviewing is the one who will be able to answer your questions about your return.

Question #13: Whats your policy on returning phone calls?

A common complaint often heard from consumers about their CPAs is about long wait for returned phone calls. CPAs arent famous for their communication skills. Its not unreasonable to ask how long you should expect to wait to have a call returned. Asking also lets your CPA know you do want your calls returned promptly.

Question #14: Are you available outside of the tax season?

Some tax preparers are seasonal. They are available only the first four months of the year, or their offices are close for a few months each year. If you expect year-round access, you need to make sure the tax professional is available.

Question #15: Are you a corporation of CPAs or an individual CPA that has their own business?

If you opt for the corporation, find out if youll be dealing with one particular person, or will it be whoever answers the phone when you call. Its best to have one person to build a relationship with.

Question #16: When do you work?

What are the CPAs hours of operation? Make sure that you can call him at hours that are convenient for you.

Question #17: Do you conduct your own business and personal affairs in a reasonably efficient and sensible way?

Ask questions about the CPAs approach to getting and serving clients, the role of staff, the use of technology including computers, communications equipment and the Internet as well as ways of keeping current, research methods, management of files and records, etc.

Question #18: Will my computer and/or I be serviced by you, a partner or junior accountants?

Many CPA firms train new associates at the clients expense. Be sure you get what you pay for.

Question #19: How are your fees calculated? Will you be charging me for every phone discussion?

To avoid friction later, it is essential to discuss the CPAs fee structure. Tax professionals may bill by the hour, form, overall return or some combination. After reviewing your previous returns and interviewing you, a tax professional should be able to give you a good-faith estimate of costs. If the CPA uses a time-based system, discuss the hourly rate of the accountant and staff, overhead expense reimbursement (what is the cost of a fax?) and whether certain time is not billed.

Find out now whether a simple two-minute phone call or a one-page fax means an hour of billable time. If thats the case, run for the door.

Question #20: What can I do to help you with your work and keep your fees to a minimum?

A great deal of your accountants time can be saved by preparing information beforehand. Find out if your CPA is willing to work with you to offload this work to your firm.

Question #21: Do you perceive any conflicts of interest?

CPAs work for dozens of firms and scores and sometimes hundreds of individuals. You should inquire if any of your direct competition is represented by the firm. If so, inquire as to how this conflict is handled.

Question #22: How long have you been a Certified Public Accountant, and what other licenses do you hold?

You should inquire with the state CPA organization to discover if there have been any disciplinary actions entered. Some accountants also have credentials as financial planners (PFS), securities representatives, business valuation experts, even lawyers. Check web directories and websites (e.g., http://www.CPAdirectory.com)

Question #23: How well have you integrated computers and the Internet into your practice, and has it enabled you to do more for the clients at less cost?

Integrating your computer files with your CPAs files can save time and money and increase accuracy. Doing so over the Internet makes it even simpler. Find out how your CPA uses the Internet. Does he have his own website? If so, check it out and ask questions about the resources available on it. Find out how you can interact with him and his computer systems to make work flow more efficient, while enabling both of you to stay in touch.

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