To many service business owners, size matters.
Owners of smaller service businesses believe that the larger service businesses are hiring up all the “good” employees. They feel this way because the larger companies might be able to offer compensation or benefits that the smaller company cannot.
But nothing could be further from the truth; and in this article you’ll read about how your small service business can still attract an amazing team.
It Starts With Your Thinking
You might be tempted to believe that your small business can’t afford to pay what the big businesses pay. This leads to a scarcity mindset, and you end up convincing yourself that you have to accept ANYONE who wants to work at your company, even if they’re not a good fit, because you don’t have a lot of people to choose from.
Reframe your thinking. You run a successful business that is hiring and is the perfect fit for the right candidate. The better you select great candidates who fit into the culture and vision of your company, the more successful your company will be. You have a lot to offer the right candidate!
Stop making excuses about why you can’t offer as much as the bigger companies and instead figure out what you can offer the right candidate.
Change Your Offer
Job applicants try to “sell” you on why they should work for you, you’re similarly trying to “sell” the job opening to the right candidate. So stop making excuses about why you can’t offer as much as the bigger companies and instead figure out what you can offer the right candidate. Here are some examples of things that you can offer that the bigger companies cannot:
A family-like atmosphere: Your small team means everyone pitches in and helps out. The new employee works side-by-side with a seasoned veteran that they can learn from, and your family atmosphere may mean everyone hangs out in the evenings or enjoys a weekly barbecue.
Shine brighter as an individual: The larger the company, the more likely their employees are just “numbers” in the system. It’s hard for people to shine in that setting and it’s easy to feel lost in the crowd. At your smaller company, your superstar employees will catch the attention of upper management more easily.
Geography: A larger company might require the employee to do more traveling because they serve a larger market. But your small company might focus on a smaller market area, so your employees might be on the road less and at home earlier in the evening.
At your smaller company, your superstar employees will catch the attention of upper management more easily.
Flexibility: As a smaller company, you may not have the quantity of work that the larger company has, which might turn out to be a good thing for great candidates who require a flexible work schedule (such as if they are a single parent or need to care for an elderly parent).
Hands-on Training: Larger companies may have slick training processes that they run all their employees through. However, your small company puts the new employee in the field right away and has them learning from seasoned veterans who know their stuff. Not only that, but the new employee will also get a chance to train others when they’re the seasoned veteran.
Career opportunities: In a big company, many more people compete for job openings, so the climb up the corporate ladder is slower. People who want rapid career advancement, and want to lead their own team quickly, are more likely to achieve that target when they start with a smaller company.
Money, Yes, But There's More
Although people want to earn a competitive wage at their job, make no mistake: they’re not deciding to accept or decline a job offer based only on the money. You have a lot to offer and can build an amazing team of solid, high-performing employees by helping the right candidates see all the great aspects of working for a small service business.