Bottom Line

Hire ‘mini-owners’ to ensure long-term success

The right talent can lighten your load and keep business running smoothly

In a recent CNBC study, 52% of small businesses cited labor quality as their most pressing problem. In painting, especially small- to medium-business owners often have trouble balancing their obligations to existing customers with investing in acquiring new ones because of the labor crunch, making them especially keen to find high-quality employees. Plus, it’s impossible to do all of the painting work on their own while locking down new projects. To address this challenge, it’s critical for painting contractors to hire early stage employees who operate like ‘mini-owners’ (i.e., employees who can handle the day-to-day minutiae of each project without supervision, freeing up owners to focus on running the overall business).

Recognizing and recruiting mini-owners

Mini-owners are ideal early hires but even established businesses can benefit from hiring mini-owners because of the time they free up to make ‘big-picture’ decisions combined with the day-to-day effort they take off the owner’s back. By hiring attentive employees with a record of exceeding expectations, owners can confidently grow their team and, in turn, their companies.

The first step in finding a mini-owner is intelligently vetting candidates. I’ve found the best questions focus on specific examples of a candidate’s past accomplishments. This establishes their ability to take responsibility for their work and to ‘sweat the details’ while proving credibility. Some of my favorites include: ■ When have you gone above and beyond for a customer, and why did you do it? ■ What’s an example of a time a customer was upset or disappointed with the work you or your team provided, and how did you respond? ■ What are you most proud of about your career thus far? ■ Describe a big setback and how you dealt with it. ■ How do you react when you notice other employees have made a mistake? ■ How do you typically respond to customers pointing out flaws or imperfections? ■ What’s your process for quality-checking your work?

However, vetting doesn’t stop at the interview. Once a hire is made, they must live up to your standards. To do this, precise training, quality checks and detailed feedback are needed to set the tone especially during the first two months.

It’s important to remember that not everyone is going to turn into the perfect mini-owner during this trial period. It’s okay to give a little wiggle room on the small stuff if you see the ‘big picture’ coming into view, especially if they’re going the extra mile to deliver highquality results. However, if a new hire has not proven themselves to be thorough, attentive and reliable by the end of this training period, it’s better to part ways now and to begin the search anew.

Creating a path for success

Once a mini-owner has proven themselves trustworthy during their training period, it’s time to get out of the way. Give them space to do their job. Micromanaging sucks the life out of a new employee while jeopardizing their ability to take accountability for their work. It also defeats the purpose of hiring a mini-owner in the first place—to free up owners to focus on what really matters to the company.

Once your mini-owner is established, it’s time to support their career development. Typically, the bestperforming employees are also the hungriest to grow and take on more responsibility. Be sure to check in regularly.

Taking the time to ask what they’d like to learn shows dedication to their success. Testing the waters with team and/or project management is the perfect next step here. These proactive moves ensure mini-owners feel valued as an important part of a company’s growth.

Enjoying the rewards of hiring right

While not always easy, hiring mini-owners is a proven way to avoid employment and customer hiccups, allowing company development to flow smoothly. The rewards —and relief—for owners make it worthwhile. JOHN JACOB is the CEO and cofounder of Hoist, a company that helps people start, run and grow residential painting companies. Its app and services provide the confidence, focus and community needed to become a successful business owner. WithHoist.com