Hiring for your small business? Here's what you should look for first

The opinions expressed by entrepreneurs contributors are their own.

You will not make your business a success. Your will. The smaller the company, the greater the potential impact of any employee, especially new hires who will significantly alter your team by disrupting (for better or worse) the norm within the organization.

To innovate, thrive, and grow, you need people with diverse perspectives and experiences on your team. If everyone looks, thinks, and acts the same way, you'll be less likely to discover the nuggets of wisdom and ideas that often emerge when smart, intuitive, and growth-minded people collaborate on a project.

When , it can be tempting to look for candidates who have worked at companies similar to yours, or even direct competitors. This method often works for , but I think startup owners and founders, especially those who are hiring for the first time from outside, need to approach hiring differently:

Related: 4 Strategies for Hiring the Right People in Your Startup

Achievements and learning are more important than specific skills. Emerging small businesses move fast, and your team members need to be ready to race. Failing fast is fine, but only if you can also learn fast – soaking up key learnings and applying them to the next effort. More importantly, people who have done something important elsewhere are likely to do it again. I like to ask two key questions during the interview process. The answers tell me a lot:

Tell me about the achievement you are most proud of: something that wouldn't have happened without you (and why).

Tell me about the time in your career when you learned the most (and why).

How the person defines success, the specific actions they took, their emotional reactions to the situation, and how they interacted with others at the time tell a really important story. It's the story of "What it looks like when I have the most impact" and "This is how I learn and share that learning". Parts of the story will also offer important clues as to how the person might fit into your crew.

During your interview, explore these questions with your team in mind. Think, Would this kind of success have happened in my shop? Will this person improve my team? How?

If the person doesn't have an answer, it says a lot about their initiative and willingness to take a calculated risk. What are the chances that your business is the first place they've accomplished something they're proud of?

Related: The Key to a Truly Successful Recruitment Process

Before you commit to hiring someone full-time, it's important to make sure you understand exactly how the new hire will impact your business and your team. And that person would also appreciate having a clearer idea of ​​what the job really entails. So you'll both probably benefit from a try.

Just as testing and iteration are important when creating and launching products, they are also useful in kickstarting a newcomer's journey to your organization. One way to do this is to engage the candidate as a consultant before committing to full-time work; a good trial period is 30-90 days.

Also assign the potential new hire to a specific project that requires interaction with other team members and may have time constraints or other barriers to success. How do they complement your existing team? This will allow you to better assess whether they are suitable for your business and vice versa.

Related: So this candidate seems like the right fit for the job. But is the job for him?

Some of your core team members have probably been by your side from the start. It can therefore be daunting to add newcomers. If you choose well and hire a m...