Growing and Hiring – It’s a Matter of Principle

In our lead-up to Monarch’s fifth anniversary, we find ourselves in uncharted territory for our small company. We have tapped our resources, primarily staff, which consists of two and has consisted of two since we formed the business. So far, our workload has allowed us to keep two of the founding principles of our company in tact–-home offices and a flexible schedule to allow for time with our families.

Early this year, we juggled an increasing and more demanding workload. As we took on more business, we ran the numbers and made the leap to contract with a graphic designer to help keep things in balance—a great decision! But we find ourselves at another crossroads as we again consider growth. Adding another advertising sales client will put us in need-to-hire mode. Like any small business, we’ve struggled with the idea of hiring.

Now you might say we’ve already taken this step when we brought on graphic design help, but our company has two parts–publication design and sales. The design portion is project based and the work more easily divided. Sales assistance is a bigger challenge, finding the right talent willing to work on a continual, part-time basis with more oversight.

We happened upon the article, “3 Hiring Strategies for Small-Business Owners,” in the Austin Business Journal that offered some solid advice. From understanding a candidate’s motivators to communicating our culture, the hiring process starts with knowing the values we want to share with our employees. This article made us realize we need to focus on finding individuals who share Monarch’s core principles. So instead of thinking about hiring from the masses, we’re refocusing on a much smaller group of candidates–people that will actually reinforce our core principles.

With this newfound understanding, we are confident that when new clients make their way to us, we can continue expanding Monarch in much the same way it was formed!