The strength of your team

All of this support however will only go so far once you get off the ground; you also need a strong, reliable team around you. Choosing the right people who will be skilled, motivated and loyal to work alongside you is a tricky and important business. Any experienced manager or business owner will know that you are only as strong as your people, so how do you find the right ones to help you build on your success? Here are a few tips to get you started: Get the word out that you're hiring Whilst trawling through piles of CVs is tedious, surely it's better to have a hundred applicants and find one that is perfect, than to have three, all of whom would be 'ok'. You can use Gumtree and social media for free advertising, use your local paper, or work with a recruitment agency that will do a lot of the leg work for you. Just make sure you spread the word, you never know where your perfect applicant is hiding! At Signs Express, our strong brand and dedicated operations team can help you source advertising routes and we also receive many applications through our website. Put the time in with interviews Once you have narrowed down your search, you are then faced with interviewing your shortlisted applicants. Punctuality and scrubbing up for an interview even though the interviewee will ultimately be in polo shirts when successful goes a long way in proving to you as the employer how serious they are. Sloppy with time? Likely to be sloppy on the job. Take the time to get to know your applicants, how do they come across? Are they polite? Are they keen? Do they have questions for you? Don't be blinded by a list of qualifications Whilst it is vital that your team have the right training and qualifications, they also need the motivation and care to apply what they know. If possible, give them a practical interview where they can display their skills. Perfect applicant but missing a qualification? Is this something you can easily train them on? Try not to be too hung up on what they can do or have done, you need to see HOW they do it and how well. Signs Express has a training section on its extranet and access to supplier training courses which will help you recruit for attitude and train for skill. Remember, they are choosing an employer Interviewing isn't a one way process; you want your ideal applicant to want to work for you! Make sure you appear professional, whilst you need to know they are fit for the job, don't scare them off by playing the whole interview as bad cop, throw in a bit of nice cop too. Is your centre messy? Give it a tidy up before your interviewee arrives, you need to give a good first impression as much as them. A strong team thrives on effective communication, helping each other out when times are tough, and celebrating when they're good. A decent interview process should hopefully give you an indication as to whether your applicant is willing to be part of such a team. With the right people around you, you're well on your way to business success. Find out more about what support is available.