Lessons From The Startup Front > Choosing Hired Guns

I feel like legendary Aussie salesman, Tim Shaw of “BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!” fame.

Initially my “Lessons from the Startup Front” was intended as one post, but when I started writing, it just kept coming. And coming, and coming. It reminded me of when you move house. You look around and it doesn’t seem like much, but once you start packing it just seems to come out of the walls.

So Tim’s infectious catch-cry came to mind. Alas, this post doesn’t come with a set of steak knives.

For those who aren’t familiar with Tim, he became a household name in Oz during his years as presenter of the Demtel commercials (through which he sold over $100 million in products) and permanently altered the Australian vernacular with that phrase. If you’re keen to find out more, check out his book, Best Seller. But wait, there’s more! He’ll even throw in a free autograph for ya.

So, here’s part three of my trilogy. I promise I’ll stop now. Maybe.

Choosing Your “Team” – Service Providers, Consultants, Advisors & Suppliers

Years ago I bought Cyndi Kaplan’s book, There’s a Lipstick in my Briefcase: A guide for the new woman entrepreneur. In one section she tells a series of horror stories about suppliers, and I remember thinking, surely all of these things couldn’t possibly go wrong. Ha!

Some of my biggest lessons have come from choosing people and businesses to help me achieve my goals. Unless you have unlimited funds these people can make you or break you – make no mistake about that – so do yourself a favour and learn to choose very carefully.

Many of them have the best of intentions, and provide valuable B2B services, but if the service or product they supply does not meet your requirements, the affect can be devastating. Having been burnt a number of times, these days I have a healthy level of skepticism for them. Always keep in mind that these people get paid whether they deliver for you or not. What’s more, it’s not their dream; they don’t have their heart and soul in it. Neither do they have all (or even some) of their worldly possessions invested in it.

Even if they’re first class, no service provider can be everything to everyone. So to avoid losing valuable dollars, you must determine if the people you hire to help you build your business are the right fit. To do this, you need to know the right questions to ask. And your findings should answer the following:

Do they understand your exact requirements, and can they deliver them when you need them?

Almost without exception your candidates will believe they can answer “yes” to that question.

REALITY CHECK #1: It’s not likely they are going to say no to a job. YOU are the one who needs to be able to make this assessment, not them.

REALITY CHECK #2: If you get it wrong – you lose; and, depending on how big your mistake is, you may lose your entire dream, not to mention what you have invested in it. If they get it wrong, they get paid.

In Wink and Grow Rich, a clever fable about wealth creation by Asia’s leading wealth consultant Roger Hamilton, the 9-year-old protagonist discovers early on that one of the key secrets is simple: just ask better questions.

Here’s a few to keep in mind:

* Can they really deliver what you need when you need it? *

The guys I hired to do my artwork came recommended through a friend, so I felt confident with the choice. While both of them were competent and had done some great work, I came to realise the requirements of my job were outside the scope of their experience and ability. Naturally this provided a number of challenges. To top it off they kept putting the job on the backburner, which ultimately put me behind by three months. In hindsight, I should have pulled the pin and cut my losses when my frustration levels hit ‘high’. By the time they reached ‘extreme’ I was already so far behind schedule I kept figuring it was best to push on. Interestingly, these guys were very prompt at invoicing – with 7 day terms.

I’ve had a number of service providers tell me they can deliver what I need and then struggle to do it. If you start to sense the job is beyond them, and if you can get out of it without blowing all your dough, do so as quickly as possible. In addition, if you have a service provider that keeps you waiting, and waiting, for whatever reason, find a replacement asap.

* Are they talking your language? *

When I look back and think of the first marketing/PR woman I hired, I cringe. She was extremely good at self-promotion, and sold me convincingly on her “results-oriented” approach. I presumed, foolishly, that she meant results for me. She didn’t. What she really meant was results for her. i.e., payment of her invoices (on 7 day terms of course) regardless of what results her services yielded for my business. Further down the track I approached another marketing/PR professional, and liked her initial ideas. When I asked her what results I might expect, she launched into explaining what kind of media coverage was likely. As I listened, I realised that “results” in her language meant the amount of press coverage achieved – and stopped there. In my language, results meant return on investment: number of bums on seats resulting from the press coverage. Little step. Big difference.

Ask for examples of what results they have achieved for other (preferably similar) clients – and don’t let them skip over this; drill down. Bigger, more established businesses may be able to absorb a costly marketing campaign that achieves lukewarm bottom-line results. Startups generally can’t.

* Do they understand your industry? *

As a startup, don’t underestimate this. Many business and marketing principles apply across the board, but each industry has a maze of nuances that are traps for new players. If your advisor, consultant or service provider does not have a good working knowledge of your industry, they can lead you right up the wrong path.

As an example, the consultant I mentioned above wanted me to scrap any reference to “singles” along with any “mush” on my website and in my promotional material, suggesting that I paint a picture of “fun, fun, fun social events”. Gut instinct told me this was wrong. Ironically, around that time I stumbled across a Singles Business Coach (can you believe such an animal exists?) who rolled his eyes when I told him this. His comment: she doesn’t have a clue about the needs of your customers.

I could have wasted a lot of money on that exercise, so I was very fortunate that David showed up when he did. For a very reasonable cost he’s proven to be a gold mine of information because he knows the industry inside out and he understands my customers. How come so? Because he’s built several successful businesses in this industry. Which leads me to my next point.

* Has your advisor ever started a business? *

In terms of hiring business advisors, this one is critical: find out if they have ever started a business. And I don’t mean being self-employed or running an existing business, I mean starting one from scratch. If you’re a startup, before hiring any business consultants or coaches, ask them what experience they have with startups (and in what industry). Getting business advice for growing an existing, established business from an educated advisor with no hands-on experience is one thing, but getting business advice as a startup from someone who has never started a business is like getting Kama Sutra lessons from a nun. Don’t go there. While they may have extensive textbook knowledge, and some of it will be very helpful, in reality it’s the blind leading the blind. These people are clueless about the myriad nuances of a brand new, struggling business. They will have no real idea about how to guide you, and absolutely no understanding of what you are going through emotionally.

Preventing rheumatism
The centipede decided to ask the wise man of the forest, a monkey, what was the best remedy for the pain in his legs.
“That’s rheumatism”, said the monkey. “You’ve got too many legs. You ought to be like me; with just two, rheumatism hardly ever appears”.
“And what do I do to have just two legs?”
“Don’t bother me with details”, answered the monkey. “A wise man just gives the best advice; it’s up to you to solve the problem”.
~ extract from Paulo Coelho’s blog Warrior of Light

I know I will need specialist advice as my business grows. But at this point, with the exception of my singles business coach, who I pay a small monthly fee to (and have learned stacks from), I get most of my advice for free from the Internet through newsletters and awesome blogs like this one! And this one and this one. Or for the price of a book written by someone who’s been there done that.

Here are two of my favourite “online advisors”. I like them because they’ve both built businesses offline and online, and excelled at it; both have their own unique, engaging, and authentic styles; and both have a very strong marketing focus:

Barry Bull hits a bullseye (sorry, couldn’t resist) through his ability to communicate very practical “how-to” business and marketing advice. What I personally like about Barry is his natural, no hype style.

Mal Emery is an Aussie larrikin who shoots from the hip with his Rebellious Rants. Worth a read. I like his tell-it-straight style. His paid membership forum, BIG ARSE Marketing Secrets sounds enticing but I’m not a member, so not sure what you can expect there.

Another one I like is Denny Hatch and his Business Common Sense newsletter. Denny rips his subject open with the skill of a surgeon, but don’t expect anything uplifting from him!

As for marketing gurus, one of my fav’s is Sean D’Souza from PsychoTactics. Sean calls himself a Chief Brain Auditor (gotta love that) and invites you to “jump in and frolic” in his free-flowing fountain of knowledge. Smart guy, and I love his playful style and humour.

Another alternative to hiring advisers is creating a self-mentoring group with people in the same boat as you. I’ve been part of one of these and they’re great because you can share ideas and get feedback, but they’re hard to keep going. You need someone on the team who is motivated enough to keep everyone on track. Unfortunately these groups have a tendency to fall apart, often due to scheduling issues.

* Are they a can-do person? *

As a startup you need to source people who are flexible, and who are willing to work with you to help make things work. Usually things can be done, one way or another, oftentimes people just don’t want the bother of having to search for or think of alternatives. If you’re irritating them by making them search, you may be perceived as a nuisance and treated as such.

In a recent conversation with a guy who I was considering hiring, he told me he didn’t like the “it can’t be done” mentality, adding, “as soon as I think something can’t be done, it’s a challenge for me to find a way to do it”. And he’s proven true to his word. You can’t pay for that attitude, it’s priceless. And as a startup, this is what you NEED – people who are willing to find a way.

Expect more. Ask yourself, But wait, is there more? It’s not about expecting blood, it’s about expecting value and results. Nobody ever produced something great from expecting and accepting mediocre input.

* Do you really want this person as a bedfellow? *

If you’re trading cash for services, it’s a straight-forward transaction; thank you very much. But if you have a new venture that looks enticing, you will eventually attract people who would like a slice of the action. If you’re looking to grow rapidly, this is a really good thing of course, but think very carefully about who you’re getting involved with. Even if they’re honest, decent people, they may not ultimately be the right fit. Sometimes it’s obvious, but other times it can be a really tricky course to navigate. I’m very new at this myself, but probably the best tip I can give at this point is, even if you need their services (or their cash) desperately, heed the warnings. Listen and look.

Some years ago I was at a family gathering and ran into an uncle I hadn’t seen since childhood. He asked if I was married yet. No, I wasn’t. His advice to me: “When ya find one ya like, before ya marry him, turn the bastard round three times and take a bloody good look”.

* Can they communicate openly with you? *

Everyone is different but I personally need people who you can talk easily with. I’d much prefer to deal with someone who presents as a person than someone trying so hard to look like the consummate professional. I don’t care if they don’t know everything, I’d prefer they level with me and discuss things openly than pretend they have all the answers.

When your hired guns don’t communicate openly with you, misunderstandings can occur very easily. Part of the problem is they sometimes don’t realise how little knowledge you may have of their area of expertise, so they don’t even think to mention things that turn out to be, well, HUGE. So DON’T assume they’re automatically going to tell you everything you need to know. Stay on their case with questions – they’ll probably think you’re a pest but that’s, well, TOUGH.

Stuart Ayling from Marketing Advisor Update gives his thoughts in a post titled Who do you blame – client or service provider?

* Are you prepared to take responsibility? *

Most of these points probably seem self-evident, yet they’re easy to overlook. And sometimes we’re inclined to take shortcuts, especially when we need something done now. But you really can’t afford to.

One year at our annual show I was watching a cowboy and his dog round up some sheep. He shared a piece of advice given to him by the old man who trained him, and it’s stuck with me: when you’re in a hurry, go slow. The more you rush and the more you panic, the more mistakes you make. And at the end of the day, there’s no-one to blame but you.

I’ve come to realise that I can curse all I like about a job that someone’s done for me (or failed to do), but at the end of the day, I was the one who selected them. The buck stops here.

Aussie entrepreneur Larry Marshall went to Silicon Valley in 1988 and funded his first startup with $250,000 on 37 credit cards. Cop that. (And I thought I was bad!) Today he has six successful high tech startups under his belt. Larry has this to say in an article by Australian Anthill titled What I Have Learnt

It’s always my fault, no matter what.
If someone screws up, I hired them, so it’s my fault. Maybe I didn’t enable them enough or I didn’t empower them enough, whatever – it’s always my fault. When you start to accept personal responsibility for everything that goes wrong, things start to go right. For the team, there’s nothing more empowering than the realization that, no matter what goes wrong, they won’t get the blame.

Although Larry’s talking about staff, the same principle can be applied to hired guns.

Choose carefully and expect more.
Danielle