The past few weeks company growth and employee turnover have put me into hiring overdrive. I like to use Indeed.com to resource potential hires. It’s easy to use and delivers quick results. Within minutes of posting your job, resumes start pouring in.
Entrepreneurs are creative, so the interviewing and hiring process is not something we like to spend our time on…but alas, it is a necessity of our job. I once read a book called The E-myth by Michael F. Gerber. I highly recommend it to all small business owners. It talks about working in your business vs. working on your business. I’m frustrated these days because I feel like I’m being sucked back into the day-to-day running of the company.
This week on Up In Your Business my guest was an accomplished entrepreneur, fashion designer and longtime friend, Connie Fails. Before the show we chatted about the creative side of business. She has mastered three pretty distinct careers in her life: fashion designer, retail store owner and manager, and “Curbside Couture,” a fashion design competition for students third through twelfth grades.
It is always affirming for me to speak with a peer. It reminds me that I’m not out here alone. I hope my listeners find those conversations reassuring too. The fervor with which business owners go about executing a new idea can seem impulsive and demanding, not only to those around us but also to the entrepreneur themselves. The desire to create and execute business opportunities is just too powerful to repress.
I’ve come to understand and embrace that entrepreneurs are creative and business is our medium. You wouldn’t ask other artists to stop creating, so why should we? Start-ups, whether it’s a new department, procedure or business venture are always more difficult than we first imagined. But, most entrepreneurs are Pollyanna minded, almost to a fault. The creation process is our FUN stuff! It’s where we like spending our time. However, if you are good at the creation part of business, the taking care of the business part will inevitably follow. I have to remind myself of that when I have a week of interviews ahead of me.
This week my radio show will be airing a rerun, Chelsea Wakefield from August 2017, and I will be spending time interviewing, hiring and building a working team. As with everything, you can’t just do the Fun stuff all the time. Business is both fun and work, and as an entrepreneur you must wear many hats.
