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INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads | | DECEMBER 6, 1999 DEAR DIARY Hoarding Money Doesn't Make Your Company Rich... ...Your people do. So hire away. That's a miser's epiphany
 We put an ad in the paper last week for another recruiter, someone who can place writers and editors with our clients -- bread-and-butter business at my editorial staffing agency. This may not seem like a big deal. For me it is, though. It means that the lights in my brain are finally on. Skinflint that I am, I've finally realized that the key to growth is to spend money as soon as it comes in. Not on a Jaguar -- on people.
Not that I don't spend money. I do. My sales and operations guy always asks me where I'm headed at lunchtime. He doesn't want me to take a side trip to the office-supply or computer stores. "Get lunch, and come right back," he says. His salary depends on quarterly sales and profits, so he watches me like a hawk. Last week, I brought in some emergency office supplies. Nothing terribly extravagant: paper for the printer, a few stickies, a $46 monthly planner. Wait a minute, how did that get in there? There was no sneaking it past him. He held me over the coals: "You really need this?" "Uh, yeah. I need to put stuff on there and erase when I have to. I make lots of changes in my schedule," I said sheepishly, trying to sound authoritative. He shook his head. "DON'T HOARD IT." Having good people around you is an amazingly effective way to succeed in business. In fact, if I ever get the financing to launch a large Internet-based staffing business, I'm going to replace myself. That's right. I'm the owner. Let someone else do the day-to-day stuff. Without the impediments of my personal biases, the new CEO should be able to take this company to new heights. While I watch. As for the recruiter, we actually need several. The more people making calls and placing candidates, the more revenue we'll bring in. It's a simple formula, but I didn't reach this epiphany overnight. A good friend of mine and president of his own successful company has always offered this advice: "Soon as some good money comes in, don't hoard it. Spend it on hiring someone else needed for your organization. That's how you grow." Makes sense, but my brain refused to let me follow my gut. So I needed to take a deep breath, and spend the money. That's what I did when I brought on the new operations manager. I could survive without him, but that's not the point. Growth is. STEPPING BACK. It's not enough to hire people. Don't waste the investment. Step out of the way and let them do their jobs. That's probably the toughest thing for an entrepreneur to grasp. Last week, I had lunch with an employee. We were talking about my business, and I told her I would sell if the right offer came along. "Don't you feel any attachment to it, emotionally?" she asked. "Yeah," I said. "But I'm more emotional about a few million dollars." Letting go of a business you created is like realizing that your grown kids want to move on. At some point, the business suffers because the owner starts to suffocate it. Once you learn how to let go, you're free to do other things, such as plan for an expansion or even take the company public -- things that you have neither the time nor the energy to do when you're bogged down with day-to-day nuisances. I actually do have my eye on the Jaguar I mentioned, but when I get it, it won't be an impulse buy on my way out to lunch. That's because my operations guy has sent my picture to all the local dealerships with the following message: "If you see this guy, send him back to the address pinned on his lapel." He takes good care of me.  George Giokas is the president and CEO of StaffWriters Plus, a specialty agency that places writers in temporary and permanent positions with corporate and other employers. It also provides editorial consulting work. His database includes 2,500 writers and editors specializing in more than 60 categories. His Web site is located at www.staffwriters.com, and you can E-mail him at george@staffwriters.com  | | |
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