In the first of a series of helpful articles, Oxfordshire business hero Peter Mols offers his words of wisdom to help you employ the best people to help your business grow

300- 1: The #1 rule for hiring amazing people.

In the last month, a staggering 300 people have applied for jobs with our small business, and today, I’ll share my #1 rule for attracting the right people to you.

As a business coach, the facilitator of mastermind groups and the founder of a kick-ass networking group, I speak to lots of people who tell me that they scaled their business, only to find the challenge of “managing people” too hard, and decided to scale back down to being a “solopreneur”. It’s a sad story, which, to be honest, is completely avoidable if they’d just followed my #1 rule. 

Decide on the “culture” you want for the business before you’re ready to grow.

In the past month, 300 people have applied for positions at Outside Ideas, and I put it all down to that rule. It’s not because we’re paying the most, it’s not because we’re doing groundbreaking stuff and not because we’re the #1 in our industry (watch this space:). It’s because we focussed on telling the story about the business, where were going and our culture.

“I speak to lots of people who tell me that they scaled their business, only to find the challenge of “managing people” too hard.”

I first learned about corporate culture more than 20 years ago during my business degree, when I read, Screw It, Let’s Do It by Richard Branson, Branson’s quote, “Train them so well that they could work anywhere, treat them so well they wouldn’t want to” sticks with me to this day.

The reality is, that most business owners are so focused on “making the furniture” that they never find the time to decide on the crucial first step to growth: deciding who you are, what you’re great at, where you’re going, and what you stand for; and WRITING IT DOWN.

By missing this first step, they set themselves up for a life of long weeks, short holidays, and spinning all the plates. 

In “business coaching” speak, we call this process creating a Vision, Mission, and Values, and I start there with all 121 clients.

If you’re a business owner who’s thinking about growing, my challenge to you this month is simple, spend some time answering the following questions:

• Where is the business heading, where do you see it in 10 years’ time? This is your Vision
• What do you want to be “world-class” at? This is your Mission
• What are your internal values as a human? These are your Business values

Next month, I can share my strategy for attracting the right kind of people to your business using the Oi Way of hiring great people, or I can discuss creating values for your business. You chose, and let me know at [email protected] 

Onwards and upwards, my friends!