EATING OUR OWN COOKING

In our test business, we hit profitability one month ahead of schedule. We then documented processes, which helped ensure that when we began hiring people, they would actually know what to do. Shane, our college student who was so helpful in the beginning, graduated from college and was able to join us full-time. The next person we hired was Koral, my executive admin. I believe this hire is always the most important. We vetted and screened hundreds of people before we found Koral. She has been a perfect fit with our values, and she has brilliant skills. She is now the gatekeeper of our values and does a screening of every person who enters our organization. She makes sure that they are a value fit.

To help document the process that made our company profitable, I identified 12 parts of our operations that needed to be managed in order for us to be successful. I took pieces of paper and wrote one of these items on each piece of paper, and then stapled each to a $20 bill and posted these around the office. I told everyone that the first person who wrote up the process for that step got to keep the $20 bill. We now have 12 documented processes, each with its own set of simple steps written out so that each new person who joins the business has a clear picture of what needs to be done to make our company work.