Taking the First Step

This week we learned about how to hire individuals that would work well in your business.  We learned how to conduct an interview and how to look at a resume.  We learned that we should be strive to find good employees but if they did not work out we should not keep them on but fire them quickly. 

In the interview with Matt Stewart he said that he had started many businesses but that whenever he tried to make money at a business it failed but if he tried to stick to the focus of the business and not loose track of what he was doing he always made money.  It is basically the same thing with Jet Blue.  David Neeleman decided he wanted to start an airline that was for the customer.  He put technology to work on his planes and he put the customer first.  Neeleman believes that people should be able to fly for a great price and if Neeleman needed more money he didn't raise the price of a ticket, he offered more flights.  Both of these men found ways to serve their customers by finding good individuals to work for them.

In the E-Myth Revisited, Gerber outlines ways to have good processes and systems in a business.  These processes should be considered for all business, even if you only have one employee, yourself.  As my son and I were working this week I decided that it would be good for us to sit down and decide the process of work that we were doing.  Who is going to vacuum, clean the bathroom, dust, empty the trash cans, etc.  We need to make sure we know who is doing each job and what process they need to go through to accomplish the job and do it well. 

Cleaning supplies are quite pricey if you want good quality but they do last a long time.  I had to donate some of my cleaning tools and supplies to accomplish everything that needs to be done.  The few cleaning materials we purchased were from a local supply company that has good products that work well.  The first time we cleaned the office we have now we asked for a larger fee because the office had not been cleaned for quite a while and it would take longer than normal.  After the initial cleaning the maintenance cleaning price will be smaller.  There are also jobs that need to be done as the weather gets warmer, like cleaning the windows and sweeping the front stoop.

Henry Stein said that part of a great organization is one that helps you feel good about yourself, makes you feel you can do more than you thought you could and makes you feel you are living a fulfilled life.  That is what I hope to find in a business that I work for or start.  It is also something I hope to teach my son as I work with him to help him get started.

MATT STEWART: 

Matt Stewart was on his way to becoming a lawyer when the company he worked for went out of business and he could not make money.  He and his friends decided to open up a painting company like the one they had worked for.  He now owns National Service Group which provides recent college graduates with tools and capital to run their own local painting business.  He feels it is important to train entrepreneurs to have a good core value system so that they can run successful companies.  He said that he had started thirteen companies and fifty two corporations in six different industries and the ones he made money at where not the ones where he tried to make money but the ones where he focused on the mission of the business.  When he focused on anything but the profit, the company would make money.  He said that we should not lose our focus and we should stick to it and find new ways to do what you or doing or ways to improve the business.  He said that you should focus on your core competency and leverage who you are and drive personal values into your employees. 

HENRY STEIN:

Henry Stein started his career in the Marines.  He said that the Marines made him a better person than he could have been alone. Stein has worked to turn companies around for H. Ross Perot and he has worked at restructuring, acquiring and growing firms from New Orleans to China.  Stein said that being a part of a great organization that helps you feel good about yourself, makes you feel you can do things you never thought possible and helps you feel you are living a very fulfilled life is a great thing.  He said it is important to find people who want to be good or great and hire them.  Find people who want to be measured, who feel work is like a sport and each day they want to improve and be better than the day before. They also like to try new things and learn new things.  Stein also said that if you find a person like this then you should hire them and treat them well.