Fire the dude - it's all about results

You hire a guy to be your Director of Business Development and he doesn't produce anything in the first year - what should you do? Fire the bastard. It's all about results. Donald Trump, do you agree with me? 8-)

If you own a tree cutting service and hire a guy to cut down trees for you, and you give the guy an axe and instruct him to cut down a specific tree.... and he goes out and beats on the tree with a big stick all day instead of using an axe (he acts like he knows what he's doing - but really doesn't know the first thing about doing the job)... he looks busy, he may be making a lot of noise... but at the end of the day - guess what? The tree will still be standing. Did he do his job? Did he give you the desired results?

How many tree beating people do you have working for you?

It's all about results. If you have people that just make a lot of noise and don't produce results, then you're a nimrod for keeping them on your payroll.

I remember working with a guy who talked loud in his office whenever he was on the phone. In fact he spoke so loud, it irritated the rest of us in nearby office because we were busy coding or working on projects that needed to be done. Anytime he made a phone call, we all heard him. Then when he was done with his phone call, he would interrupt the rest of us from our work and relay the conversation that he had on the phone. BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH

Talk about being a loud tree beater!

He couldn't even close any new deals to cover the generous salary and bonuses he was getting paid - but boy could he talk loud and try to lead the rest of us into believing that he was worth every dollar he was getting paid. He must have figured that if talked loud enough, it would sound as if he were doing his job - but the bottom line is - he was not a closer or a producer.

Yup... we had us a genuine tree beater.

Who needs partners?

If you can do it on your own, don't give up a piece of your business and take on a partner. If you can't do it on your own, then hire someone, or outsource the work. Do anything you can to avoid giving up a stake in your company to a partner or partners.

Don't hire family or friends to work for you, because if you have to fire them... they will not be your friends anymore. If you keep them on, even though they suck at the job and don't produce, but feel obligated to keep them on the payroll, then your company suffers and you are just wasting payroll that could be better spent on hiring someone that will actually produce results for you.

Family is family, friends are friends, and business is business. Keep your friends and family out of your business, and nobody gets hurt, and relationships stay intact. Mix them together, and it's a time bomb just waiting to explode.