There are some small signs of the recession residing a bit. NOT big signs, but for some of you, you may want to hire a few additional employees for your business. I want you to manage recruiting and hiring as inexpensively and as wisely as possible. Here are a few cheap and/or innovative ways to recruit and hire without breaking the bank.

First avoid newsletter and employment board (Career Builder, Monster) advertising. It is just a waste of a lot of money and is no longer necessary given the world of online social media.

If you have laid off employees, these would be your obvious pool. However, don’t bring back old problems! This is the perfect time to involve your current employees in decision-making as they probably know things you didn’t about the former employee’s performance.

Next up is to ask your best employees to keep their eyes open for potential candidates. But don’t just stop there. Ask your customers and vendors as well. Make everyone aware that you are recruiting for new positions.

If you belong to any trade associations or community groups, spread the word. Be cautious about posting on association job boards-also expensive. Word of mouth should do.

Keep in mind, plenty of great people are still out of work! Do a search on LinkedIn by keyword (the job title) to find people who do that work and then look for recommendations. Also, post in any groups you belong to and let your contacts know who and what you are looking for.

Let your friends and contacts on Facebook and Twitter know. If your business has a page, be sure you write an ad for that and repost to keep it fresh.

We’ve written about job postings on craigslist before. Take a few minutes to read this information and then draft your own witty post.

As a last resort, consider a staffing agency to bring in some temp-to-hire possibilities.  Of course, this isn’t free (generally the hourly rate is doubled but given the availability of employees, hourly rates have gone down), but you are getting some things done while you are paying and getting a real world evaluation of skill set and cultural fit. Do a 90-day trial period before bringing on full-time and just because the staffing agency says they checked references, do it yourself again.

There should be no reason to spend the money on paid advertising. Even if you do run a craigslist paid ad, it is super cheap compared other advertising. Don’t settle. It is an employer’s market right now and you can find that perfect fit for your position!

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We all know our world is changing rapidly (who can believe that in 2003, YouTube did not exist? Nor did Facebook or iPhones or geolocation). Competition in the current economy is fierce, the rules and technology keep changing and if you don’t continually reevaluate your systems and management, I’m sorry to say you increase your chances of failure.  You cannot stay competitive, regardless of your business, if you do not stay caught up on the newest research, trends, and laws in business. From time to time, I will point you towards some of the best books and sites to stay abreast of small business and technology news. Devote 15 minutes each day to reading something to increase your general business knowledge.

Books:

Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard:. I found this book incredibly encouraging. It turns out humans really are capable of great change, and if humans are, then so are organizations. Focus on examining and then repeating successes and not on avoiding failure.

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us: Yes, I’ve talked about this one before. Have you read it? If you have even a single employee (or child), you must read this book.

Presentation Zen:   One of the most popular posts ever presented on this site was called Snooze Proof Your Power Point Presentation. There’s a reason why! We know our presentations are often dull. Presentation Zen helps you engage your audience by not resorting to reading a list of bullet points to them.

WordPress for Dummies: If you want to save money and build a dynamic blog/site, you’ll need a guide. This is the best and this brand new edition is about to release.

The Complete Guide to Email Marketing: Email marketing is a routine part of business now. Whether you are simply announcing special promotions or you are writing an informative newsletter, you will need some help. This book is highly rated and will give you the information you need to write effective headlines, build an email list and not violate any spam laws.

Magazines:

Harvard Business Review Yes. It is expensive. But some of the greatest business minds in the world contribute to this publication. Get it from the library if you don’t want to buy it.

Wired. It isn’t just technology. It is cutting-edge business and trends. And it has a killer iPad app!

Fast Company. Cheap subscription. Great community and site. Engaging and informative business writing.

You can find websites/blogs that are associated with nearly all of these materials as well. Stay educated, stay ahead! What do YOU read that I overlooked?

I’ve relayed a lot of information to you about small business issues: marketing, branding, legalities, human resources and management. I think it is time for a summary of the key components you should really be sure you are aware of and practicing. You should be building a business and not a job and your business should support your personal dreams. Here are ten things every small business owner should know and act on:

1. What your USP is and why it’s important. If you don’t know what makes your business unique in some way and why customers should come to you and not your competitor, than how should they? Nail this down.

2. That you must have aptitude in addition to passion. Passion is important but if you are out of your league in terms of skills, your business may be sunk. Make sure new endeavors do not involve a huge learning curve. Passion, aptitude and USP are the ways to success!

3. That marketing no longer goes one way-it must be relational. Billboards, yellow page and newspaper ads are one way marketing. People demand more these days. Blogs, websites, video, podcasts, social media, in-person networking and exemplary customer service are the way your potential customers want to be approached.

4. How to use a video camera and why it’s important. Smartphones and tablet computers like the iPad are changing our world. Are you going to keep up or are you going to be left behind? Grab a video camera and tell a story. Get your nearest teenager to help with editing if necessary. But take this important next step.

5. How to incorporate time off to stay innovative. The first few years of starting and operating your new business were probably grueling and you may have set bad personal habits during that time. You must incorporate healthy habits including adequate sleep and time off to continue to innovate and thrive.

6.  What truly motivates employees. It is the rare employee in a rare position who is motivated by just money and/or discipline. Do you know how to motivate your team?

7. What are your calls to action? If a viewer of your website or printed material is not encouraged to DO something, they leave. End of story. Is there a newsletter sign up, a video to watch, something to encourage comments or a special promotion. Do you even know what a “call to action” is? Time to brush up on this!

8. How to measure and compare marketing efforts and why it is important. You have to have a system of measuring so you know if you are wasting your marketing dollars on a particular campaign or method. Don’t run one, run several and always measure their success or failure. Be prepared to try something different as needed.

9. Who should be on your personal success team. Your team should include a top-notch mentor or coach, a qualified CPA and attorney you trust. Additionally, you should have a strong relationship with your banker.

10. What customers want.  They want to be noticed, cared for and have one or all of their problems solved. That is really it in a nutshell. In what ways could you do this better? Always be looking for the answer to that and you will always be ahead of your competitors.

Telecommuting makes good business sense in many ways, including for small businesses. Despite this many aren’t allowing telecommuting…yet. While there are many positives, there are some legitimate concerns. Doing your homework ahead of time is crucial.

Review your liability with your insurance agent in case someone is hurt working while at home. If the person will only work from home, determine from your CPA whether or not they are still employees or should be classified as independent contractors.

Review which positions make sense to do a trial run of telecommuting. Not all do.

Why allowing some telecommuting is good for your small business:

• Reduces absenteeism
• Often increases productivity
• Improves morale
• Increases loyalty and retention
• Improves recruitment
• Depending on the number of employees telecommuting, it can reduce the space you need and the associated costs

Why telecommuting is good for the employee:

• Improves work/life balance
• Decreases commuting and other costs (dining out, business attire, dry cleaning)
• Improves morale

There is a myth that if you allow one employee to telecommute (that is, work from home via computer), you will have to allow them all. I’m not sure why people believe this but you can require that interested employees develop a business case for working from home. Set requirements about performance, attendance and discipline ahead of allowing employees to apply.

Do a test run. If you have a number of interested employees (you will), examine each position for the feasibility. Not all positions lend themselves to being away from your business, but many do. Once you’ve determined that the employees meet eligibility requirements, have a one-on-one conversation with them. Questions include:

• Where in their home will they work?
• Do they have a quiet private workspace in their home? (children and pets should be prohibited from their workspace if they will be taking business calls)
• Will they work traditional hours or will you base their productivity on results (for more read about ROWE: Results Only Work Environment)?
• Who is responsible for computer equipment, phone lines, office supplies, etc?
• Why should they be allowed to work from home?

Once you have a pool of strong contenders who have built their business cases for telecommuting, select a few of those employees and allow them to start working from home 2-3 days per week. Make sure you’ve decided, in advance, what a successful test of telecommuting will look like.

Schedule routine follow-up meetings to determine what challenges your telecommuters are facing and what their successes are. Review your own criteria and continue to monitor over a one year period. If the test is successful, write and implement a policy on allowing telecommuting.

Times change and small businesses must keep up! Technology, including high-speed internet and smart phones, can enable the smallest of businesses to allow some employees to work from home.

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Is your personality killing your business? We all know someone who seems to chronically get in their own way. Short-tempered and short-sighted, they don’t realize that these personality traits are getting in the way of greater business and personal success. Often these folks don’t know how people feel, so how do you know if this is you? And, if it is and you’ve developed these bad habits, how do you change them?

It really comes down to uniting with someone you trust, someone who’s opinion you value, that you can be candid with and who will retain your confidentiality. You also want to partner with someone who doesn’t have a vested interest in your results, like an employee, who won’t be truthful with you. Better to choose a peer or even a customer, someone who sees you “in action” quite a bit, working with suppliers, clients/customers and staff and can give you genuine feedback on what those interactions look like.

What happens, then, if you get bad feedback from them and it turns out your personality might really be getting in the way of your business? You need a role model and that person may be the same as the one who’s been watching you. Look around your company, your church, among your friends and in your own business dealings for someone who seems to have that piece of their business and life together. They’re likable, their business is growing, people seem to respect them and flock to them. Identify and model some of the behavior traits that make them successful. My guess is that you will find these among those traits:

Patience
Humility
Recognition of others
Transparency/honesty
Humor
Flexibility
Willingness to teach or share information

Start identifying these and other traits, find someone you can model, and start implementing these changes gradually. Personality is largely something we are born with and challenging to change but is done every day. Be patient with yourself, continue to seek honest feedback and you will find your relationships, business and otherwise, drastically improved.

Even though many question the reality of global warming, there are often simple common-sense reasons to “green” your small business. One of those reasons is good PR! Advertising your commitment to environmental causes can make your company stand out over another.

The other reason is cost savings. For instance, installing CFL light bulbs saves money in the long run because your energy costs are lower. Anything you can do to your office space to reduce your utility costs (additional insulation, installing window film or low-flow faucets) helps your budget! Providing filtered water over bottled water is also both green and saves money.

Recycling generally won’t save you money, but it will make you a good citizen. These days you can recycle computer equipment, cell phones, batteries, ink cartridges, toner cartridges and more with mailing boxes or envelopes often provided by various charities. They often resell these products to provide income for their organization. Cell phones often go to soldiers, schools recieve computer equipment, etc.

Then there is the usual recycling. Your city likely has a program and will provide you with bins. You actually create a more involved, caring culture in your business when you involve employees in a recycling program. Be cautious in recycling office paper and mail however! Much of it may contain sensitive information and should be shredded and disposed of by a qualified company.

Kaizen is a familiar word for nearly anyone who has worked for a large corporation in the last 20 years. Many small business owners may not be aware of the concept and tools involved in this continuous improvement method. Kaizen is a method adopted from the Japanese, particularly Toyota, by American corporations that focuses on small and continuous improvement at all levels. Instead of asking really big questions, the focus is on any small process that can be even slightly improved.

An excellent, easy to read introduction to Kaizen for both business and your personal life is One Small Step Can Change Your Life by Robert Maurer, PhD. The book is broken down into tips on mind sculpture (aka visualization which we discussed here), suggestions for small questions to ask, small steps to break larger problems down and encouragement to solve small problems first.

How can you implement the Kaizen method into your small business? First, it is a requirement that everyone be involved, from the lowest paid part-time employee to you, the company owner. Install a suggestion box if people seem reluctant to share their ideas. Encourage them to share anything that they think could be done better or less expensively. They have to look for solutions, not just point out problems.

Then you have to review these suggestions periodically. If the change isn’t feasible, sit down with the person who made the suggestion and explain why their idea won’t work at this time and brainstorm other solutions with them. If you just take in the information and don’t respond, you will not get continual buy-in from your team! They will feel like they are throwing thoughts into a bottomless well.

It isn’t always necessary to make huge changes to see big results in a small business. Asking yourself frequently “what small improvements could our business make?” and continuing to implement them can reap big rewards over time. As a coach, I work with clients on improving processes and asking key questions to guide them towards increased success in business and in their personal lives.

Small business owners can be their own worst enemies. They can be short-tempered, short-sighted and chronically worried. This stresses staff, customers and vendors and WILL NOT serve your business or build success. Being a calm and centered leader will! Work on these qualities and watch the culture of your business change:

1. Passion. If you aren’t passionate about your service or products, how can you expect your customers and employees to be passionate? And if you aren’t, why are you in the business you are in? Life is too short!

2. Confidence. This can be a learned attitude and no one is confident 100% of the time. But for people to follow you, you need to be confident, committed and decisive.

3. Transparency. This is a newer buzz word in industry and some interpret it to mean tell everything, all the time. Not so! What it does mean is to admit error and correct course quickly. Everyone fails and looking for a fall guy when you or your leadership was to blame is not a leadership quality.

4. Knowledge. This is a seriously fast-paced world and staying on top of everyting is impossible. However, you must have a mindset of continual learning. While you may not be able to step in and take over the roles of all your employees, you should have a strong knowledge of what they do. You should also be reading industry magazines, technology and marketing blogs, and motivational books as much as possible. 

5. Patience. You must give those around you the room to grow and learn. People will try your patience (vendors and customers included), but they perform better with calm assertive leadership than for someone who is frantic or overwhelmed.

6. Gratitude.  This is so crucial. Feeling gratitude for what you already have, for the people within the business and without who have supported you, for each customer and transaction will help you foster more of the same. Take a moment to be thankful and always be willing to express that openly.

Along with employee salaries, employee benefits are a significant portion of an overall company budget. Large corporations entice employees with gym memberships, massage therapists, expensive holiday banquets, free logo apparel and more. It can make it difficult for the little guy to feel competitive in luring and retaining talent. There are numerous studies that indicate these high-priced benefits don’t work. There are many things a small business owner can offer that will breed loyalty and productivity in their employees:

• Appreciation. Noticing good work, saying “thank you” and recognizing employees in front of their peers are easy benefits to provide.

• Knowing your employees. We all want to be known, especially by our leaders and people we admire. Ask about families, be aware of birthdays, new babies, marriages and education milestones.

• Offering surprises like gift cards for a coffee house or inexpensive sports tickets. Do you remember the Pavlov experiment from freshman psych class? By offering treats when a bell was rung, they taught dogs to salivate just via the bell over time. The part people forget is that this stopped working after awhile unless a surprise treat was offered occasionally. Instead of giving something away every Friday or via an “employee of the month” award, it is actually more appreciated when you surprise employees with small gifts.

• Flexible scheduling. All of us have difficulty scheduling appointments and family activities when we work full-time traditional hours. Allowing employees some flex time, within reason, is a free but effective way to reward them for being part of your team.

• Casual dress or jeans. Who would have thought that getting out of our work clothes could mean so much? If you  have a business that doesn’t require formal wear 5 days per week, consider offering casual Fridays. Many companies actually charge $1 to employees to wear jeans one day per week which goes into a social fund. The surprise factor works here as well. Unexpectedly announce that the next day is “sports day” and allow people to wear their favorite team colors and jeans and watch the happy glow spread among the place.

• Allow people to kick off early when things are slow. Walk around and personally deliver the news that it is “too gorgeous outside” to work  and even the most sour of employees will feel love for you and the company.

Space all of this out but try to do something no less than quarterly for everyone and find someone daily to say “thank you” to. You don’t need the big bucks to build a loyal, committed team!