This is a my 5 point checklist for hiring for a small business. Essential points you should keep in mind if you own an SME/ Start-up and are looking to hire initial few employees and the next few. This list should complement your functional screening.

• Hire people who want to work with you – Look for people who want to work with you, who feel confident about your abilities and who share your dream.  Avoid people who want to work because your you have a premium address, or because they feel they can learn by working with you (look for self-learners)  or because you have got funded etc. These people will be there to share the pleasures but ditch at the first sign of pain.

• Look for people whose aspirations match yours. Aspirations are like shoes. Too big a shoe is loose and uncomfortable, too small, it pinches and is unwearable.

• People who can pull your venture & team forward rather than those who will drag you back. Avoid those, who need to be motivated to deliver. You don’t need people who will themselves become problems rather than solutions. Do they have the drive like you to make things work or will they get bogged down by the seemingly insurmountable everyday problems ?

• Experience  or Attitude ?- Go for attitude. You can always teach skills as long as you have the right attitude and basic capabilities. Experience is s double-edged sword. Experienced professionals can get you off the block faster. at the same time too much experience may block new ideas. They may end up doing the same things which they did in their previous jobs.

• culture fit – what sort of organisation you want to build ? free-flowing & fun-loving, high discipline professional, fast moving & flexible, process driven & strict. If you are clear on this, make sure you evaluate every prospective employee for this. a culture misfit can give you more headaches than anything else and can be disruptive.