In my last post I talked about treating your employees with the dignity and respect they deserve, but that’s not to suggest that you should let them walk all over you.  As a small business owner, your job is to set expectations for employee behavior from their first day of employement, and then to stick to these rules and expectations for the duration.

Indoctrinate New Hires

New employees should immediately be given a packet that details what is expected of them, specifically with regard to uniform or dress codes, treatment of customers and co-workers, and quality of work.  In addition, it should include information about what they can and should expect from you as their boss and/or owner.  Then have them sign it and make copies for both parties.  This will serve to set clear guidelines from day one and to provide a record in case you have to fire them later for failing to live up to the agreed upon expectations.  Don’t be a jerk during the orientation process, but let them know that you have certain goals and rules in place and adherence to them is required.

You should then immediately assign the new employee to a trainer who can show them the ropes for a few days.  Many people feel overwhelmed during their first few days at a new job, and you owe it to them to provide enough training and support to make the transition easy.  It’s also in your best interest because an ill-trained employee, especially in a home services business, can cause amazing amounts of damage to your reputation and brand.

Rules Are Rules.  No Exceptions For Friends.

Becoming a contractor who has hired help will mean that you’ll need to be vigilant in practicing workplace equality.  It’s natural that over time you’ll become close friends with some of your employees, especially those that have been there a long time, but it’s very important that you hold them to the same standards as everyone else.  You’ll be tempted to let them slack off on occasion, or maybe you’ll overlook something that they’re doing wrong because, hey, your buddies.  But you must know this kind of favoritism will not go unnoticed by newer employees.  They will begin to grow resentful of this perceived lack of fairness, and the result will be a loss of respect for you, which always leads to a deterioration of workplace morale and productivity.  We’ve all been in that workplace situation where the boss is all cozy with one or two of your peers who seem to get preferential treatment.  Remember how mad that made you?  Don’t be that kind of boss!  If your friends at work have a problem with being treated the same way as your new hires, then maybe they’re not such great friends (or employees) after all.  Run a tight ship, respect and care about the help, practice equality, and you will have a productive and happy workforce.

It is true that the fastest-growing and most lucrative businesses tend to be the ones that operate like a well-oiled machine, but that doesn’t mean you should treat your employees like mere cogs.  They are human beings, after all, not robots.  What this means is that you need to know when to push and when to lay off; when to correct and when to keep quiet; when to ask for more and when to give back.  Your people are the lifeblood of your business, and how you treat them will have an enormous impact on their productivity (and your earnings). There’s nothing wrong with having high employee expectations, as long as you recognize that they’ll have expectations of you, too.

This post shouldn’t be shocking.  After all, if you’re reading this then you’re probably a small business owner, and if you’re a small business owner then at one point in time you probably quit a job partially because you weren’t feeling like your efforts were appreciated.  So you should be keenly aware of your employees’ need to be recognized as a valuable member of the team.  If they screw up accidentally, take them behind closed doors and talk to them about it with a respectful tone and attitude.  If they do something great for your business image, thank them!  I’ve noticed that lots of managers are very good at cracking the whip or chewing people out, but very few take the time to balance it with an appropriate amount of praise or gratitude when it is warranted.  Fail to recognize good workers at your own peril, because they’ll be out the door faster than you can say “two week notice”!

Go that extra mile to get to know your best employees.  If they feel like you truly care about them, they will work hard for you.  Before I started my home improvement business,I worked several years for a small business owner who never even learned my first name.  How sad is that?!  Granted, he wasn’t involved in direct management on a day-to-day basis, but it still irked me that I worked hard to make his wallet fat week after week, year after year, and he didn’t even care to know my freaking name!  This is an extreme example, but my point is that your lack of attention to your best employees will almost certainly encourage them to start looking for a better opportunity.  Your job is to make the work environment as pleasant and rewarding as possible for your most skilled and hard-working people because they are, quite simply, a rarity.  Mediocre employees are a dime a dozen, but the truly exceptional ones are worth bending over backwards for because they will accelerate your business’ growth like you wouldn’t believe, and they will make your life as owner-manager a hell of a lot easier.  Trust me on this one.

One final note.  If one of these star employees decides to call it quits so that they can go start their own business and become a contractor, support their decision and wish them good luck.  Because they’re so valuable to your business, you might be tempted to hold them back by warning them of the risks of business ownership or by saying that their idea will never work, but I encourage you to be gracious and genuinely happy for them.  It will be a loss for you and your company, but the bigger loss would be if that would-be entrepreneur never had the chance or the guts to strike out on his own and go for the American dream, just as you did when you started your fledgling little business.

In my post about learning to destroy your competition, I detailed the importance of cutting ties with your direct, local competitors.  It’s vital, however, to recognize that this ONLY applies to them.  In almost every other scenario, it’s in your best interest to seek out and build solid, reciprocal relationships with as many people and business owners as possible.

For example, if you specialize in Las Vegas air conditioning repair, look to establish relationships with Vegas-based appliance repair, plumbing, and painting companies.  Ask for their construction business cards and give them a handful of yours.  You’d be surprised by how often homeowners will group several different home improvement projects together, and when they ask the guy fixing the leaky pipe under the sink if he knows of any good AC repair companies, odds are good that he’ll tell them about you.  He’ll do this not because he’s a nice guy, but because he knows that by sending you business, you’ll probably send him some down the road.

You’d also be wise to join as many local clubs and business organizations as possible to further spread the reach of your contact network.  Become a member of the Better Business Bureau.  Join your area’s chamber of commerce.  Become a sponsor for a fundraiser or youth athletic team.  If the numbers make sense for your business, join a contractor referral network.  The bottom line is that you need to get your name out there and build as many business relationships as you can.   You want the customers that result from networking because they’ll have a certain amount of trust in you right off the bat, they’ll be less likely to balk at your pricing, and, best of all, they’ll come with no acquisition cost.  I don’t know about you, but I’ll take free construction leads any time I can get them!

The relative lowering of your advertising costs is in fact the greatest benefit of building long-term relationships in your city.  You’ll always need to spend money on marketing, but with each successive year the customers will come to you in greater and greater numbers due to your efforts in networking, fostering business relationships, and performing quality work.

Even if you already know how to become a contractor, you’ll also need to learn how to be a good communicator.  If you’re naturally shy and don’t like to talk to people, now is the time to try to improve yourself in this area, because your more gregarious, talkative, and assertive competitor could quickly leave you in the dust when it comes to establishing a network of lucrative relationships.

Once you’ve learned how to become a contractor and then put in a few months of hard work you might start to have a few doubts or frustrations, so I present to you an analogy that might help.  I think we’ve all had that favorite sports team that was short on talent but positively brimming over with persistence and tenacity.  A few Duke basketball clubs come to mind.  It’s the kind of group that will drive other teams nuts because while they might fall behind by a few points they refuse to roll over and die.  They hang around and keep fighting, just waiting for that opportunity to spring when the more talented team gets lazy or frustrated or allows an open window.  As soon as the other team starts to crack, they’ll take advantage and bust the game wide open, usually leaving their more talented opponents in the dust.  More often than not these kinds of teams are highly successful, and occasionally, with a little luck, they are champions.

Your fledgling business needs to be just as tenacious, just as persistent, and just as patient.  In the early stages you’re sure to have setbacks.  Startup costs will be more than you’d planned, getting systems in place will be a hassle, you’ll have few references and contacts, and there could be added stress on your home life with you pulling 60-hour weeks on your business.  The novelty of owning your own business will quickly wear off and you might even occasionally doubt your ability to pull it off, but the trick is in finding a way to weather all the storms and tough it out.

It might take six months or it might take a year, but eventually that rickety vehicle that is your business will start to run smoother, the wheels will begin to turn more easily, and the competition will come into view directly ahead of you.  As time goes by it will generally get easier as you learn the business, start to build a customer base, and work on solidifying a reputation in your city.  And if you stick with it long enough you’ll start to be given huge opportunities to propel your business past the competition.  It could be a large contract from the city, or a big write-up in the local paper, or a scandal in your competitor’s business, but eventually that day will come when your persistence will be rewarded by a huge leap forward for your business.  Often times you won’t see them coming, but they WILL come, and only if you’re still in the game can you take advantage of them.

Most people will fall behind early and give up like a team of undisciplined punks, but if you have the fire in your belly to keep pushing forward you’ll eventually come across big opportunities to exploit and destroy your competition.  You don’t have to be super-talented or a genius to go big with your business.  You just have to stick around long enough to see your competitors throw in the towel.