The boss of an Inverness-based business consulting group has quizzed two of Scotland’s top entrepreneurs on the question of team building.
Speaking as a guest on ‘The Board You Can't Afford’, the popular feature on the Go Radio Business Show, Declan Ramsey of DramCo, told Sir Tom Hunter and Lord Willie Haughey: “I work with predominantly small businesses and we’re here to provide actionable solutions to problems. We work with you to break them down into easy to digest chunks and we strongly believe that all businesses can benefit from what a clear plan can provide supported by policies and procedures. You can achieve a huge return in your business.
“I've noticed lots of costs are involved in procuring and building the right team.
“Would you agree that a structure, policies and procedures prior to employing would aid in cutting on-boarding costs? And what would you say about preparing a business to bring on a team for the first time?”
Sir Tom Hunter responded: “As someone who has flown off the seat of his pants most of his life, it took me until I think I was 60 to realise that structures were good.
“So I think that, far from being a maverick, have a solid structure to what you're doing and especially around growing the business. I would definitely say that's a good idea.
“What we do in coaching businesses that are growing is first of all we say to the entrepreneur or the founder that they've got to look at themselves.
“Now that might sound simple but quite a few of us entrepreneurs are not very good at.
“We can tell you what we're good at, but we're not quite so good at telling you what we're not so good at. However you’ve got to have an honest scorecard. And if you get that scorecard right, then it helps with building your team helps because you choose the right type of person. You don't recruit people who look like you because that usually ends in disaster.
“You recruit to your weaknesses, if you're trying to build this team. So I could be a great salesman, but I’m not so good in the numbers, so I need the FD . . . but I need an FD who can work with me.
“Building the right team is the most important thing any entrepreneur can doå but it starts with them!”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here