How to Find Ambitious Employees

By Chris Penttila of Entrepreneur.com

When Kevin Schaff started Thought Equity Motion six years ago, the idea was to sell pre-produced commercials made from stock video.

As the business evolved, however, it became clear that the emerging market opportunity was actually in licensing online video. Schaff, 35, decided to refocus the company on becoming the world's largest repository of real time search, preview and online delivery for motion-based content. The industry "was fragmented," says Schaff, who is also the company's CEO. "We wanted to pull it all together."

Today, Denver-based Thought Equity Motion works with content partners and clients including Paramount, National Geographic, the NCAA, "Saturday Night Live," "30 Rock" and "Mad Men." "You can't watch T.V. for 30 minutes and not see our product," Schaff says. The company's sales exceed $15 million a year.

Does he ever wish he could hit the fast forward button during job interviews to see which applicants would be the best employees? "Oh yeah," he says. "People are by far the most expensive mistake we make."

Entrepreneurs Still Struggle With Hiring
Small businesses need ambitious employees who can take initiative to get the job done. And small employers now have an opportunity to upgrade their workforce since the number of available job candidates has grown.

There's evidence that small employers are putting more emphasis on soft skills: 50% of small business owners in an October Intuit Payroll survey say they would rather hire a flexible "people person" or a "jack of all trades" instead of a highly specialized "creative genius" or "math whiz."

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