Hiring the right people is the single most important job you have as a shop owner. As the business grows, your team is the most important asset of the company. It's what you should be spending a significant time on in regards to hiring, training, 1-on-1's, improvements and more.

Hiring can be tricky as the goal is to fully vet candidates to make the right choice. Candidates may not tell the full truth, exaggerate responsibilities or not just be the right cultural fit for your shop.

If you hunt for candidates, phone interview 20 people, and have 3 in-person interviews, that can add up to 50+ hours of work. Multiple that by what you value your time at hourly and it adds up quickly. Let alone the training for this new candidate, plus what if they don't end up working out and you start over?

Point being, we want to get as many new-hire decisions right from the getgo.

At Printavo, we've found a neat trick that helps us vet candidates by using a 3rd party interviewer.

We have found that having someone external, with interviewing experience, helps the candidate open up more. They don't feel as up-tight as talking to the business owner and reveal a lot more about their personality.

We've been able to use this to decline candidates and avoid costly hiring mistakes.

At Printavo, we use Balance HR Solutions (http://bhrspartners.com) to interview all of our candidates. They will ask questions such as:

Plus they'll deliver a summary of their opinions and anything odd that may have come up. They bill us hourly for the time and we can talk through candidates' summaries on the phone.

Of course, there are many people with experience interviewing. The point is to have someone outside the company talk to the candidate and get a different feel for their fit.

Have any other tips you use? Leave a comment!

Try Printavo: www.printavo.com