Starting a business: 5 keys to finding great employees

---

When it comes to starting a business, finding great employees is not as easy as it seems. To begin with, you are an unknown quantity, which means you are asking employees to make an investment in you just as much as you are making an investment in them. While you can certainly find great employees, finding them when you are first starting a business can be more challenging than when you are an established business. Here are three keys to finding great employees when starting a new business.

Check local schools

Depending on what kinds of employees you are looking for, you can check with local Universities, trade schools or colleges that offer degrees in the fields you are looking for employees in. Check with administrators to see if they can make recommendations on who their best and brightest students are.

Use an employment service

Employment services like Engineer Nexus can help do a great deal of the initial legwork of finding great employees. They often have a far broader and more established network from which to gather resumes and create a potential hiring pool. This is an area where again, you can use a company that specializes in just the types of employees you are looking to hire.

Be upfront and honest

Starting a new business is most likely going to demand more from your employees than they might expect to have to give to an established company. It’s important, to be honest from the outset about what your expectations are and the kinds of conditions they can expect to be working in. If you are starting from a home office, they need to know that. If you are going to need them to work long or irregular hours, they need to know that up front. If you want to find employees who are honest (and you do) then you will want to set the pace and tone by being honest and upfront with them right from the start.

Getting great employees is not impossible for new business owners, but it can be more difficult. While potential employees may benefit more from working for a more established business or company, you are also giving them the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of what could turn out to be a great opportunity. Some people want more stability and that’s okay. Find the pioneers that want to toss their hat into the ring and grow with you.