Six years ago, I made the kind of mistake that haunts you.
I met Phil at Dunkin for an interview.
Phil was a master mechanic with an impressive resume. We were desperate to hire an A Tech, and he checked every box – extensive certifications, $50k+ in personal tools, and the promise of a $300k fleet account.
But something was off.
Phil interrupted every question with, “Well, actually…” His references were too busy to call back. The voice in my head screamed, “Don’t do it.”
There were red flags everywhere.
I hired him anyway. I was desperate. I told myself I’d find someone else if he didn’t work out.
How bad could it be?
Bad. The fleet account never materialized. Within months, Phil had driven every employee at the shop to quit. Then came the worker’s comp claim—he’d hurt himself working on his own car after hours.
Six years later, that location still hasn’t recovered to pre-Phil numbers.
One moment of weakness looking for a quick fix created a virus that affected me for years.
The worst hiring mistake isn’t hiring someone unqualified. It’s hiring someone you know is wrong, but do it anyway.
The Solution
Many of our top performers started in an entry-level role with us.
The managing partner who runs our flagship store started as a technician and was promoted to assistant manager, store manager, and then promoted to the flagship.
Another managing partner started with us as a maintenance man and was promoted to customer service rep, assistant manager, and then store manager.
I could go on with many more examples.
The solution is to build your bench to promote from within.
Visit schools, get involved in the community, and improve your training programs. Build relationships before you need them. Create a pipeline of pre-qualified people.
Think of it like insurance.
You don’t buy it when your building is on fire. You buy it to prevent the fire from destroying everything. Your bench is your insurance against desperate hires.
Quick fixes to urgent problems create new problems, which lead to quick fixes.
This cycle continues until the business drains all the life out of you.
It means running short-staffed while finding the right people. It means investing time and money to improve your training problems. It means saying no to growth until you stabilize operations.
Breaking free requires accepting short-term pain for long-term gain.
Cheers!
Brian
P.S. You can figure all this stuff out alone or turn decades into days by joining a private community of franchisees.
Dodging the bullet on hiring just one Phil pays for an entire decade of membership!
Reply “I’m in” to join me.
