Small-business owners, what are you doing to stand out from the crowd? Each week, we focus on an entrepreneur who has lessons to share that we think will resonate with other small-business owners.
Skiddy von Stade, founder of finance job site OneWire.com, answers our questions:
What are you doing to stand out from the crowd?
We use a unique and selective screening process to match specific job candidates with employers based on qualitative information not necessarily included in their resumes. At most job web sites, posting a new position is a lot like throwing a piece of bread into a pond filled with ducks: everyone responds. And that reaction is amplified when the posters are top-tier financial firms like JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs. A single posting triggers a flood of hundreds of embellished resumes. At OneWire.com, we require job candidates to fill out lengthy profiles based upon a proprietary, highly structured classification system. Then, we present financial firms with only the candidates that meet their criteria, saving them time and money.
What's the best part about owning your own business?
Seeing the business model and the technology we’ve created in action. And I take great pride in helping finance professionals and hiring companies connect.
What's the biggest challenge of owning your own business?
Convincing hiring firms that had been accustomed to conducting expensive executive talent searches that there was a faster and cheaper way to tackle the process.
Name: Skiddy von Stade
Business: OneWire.com, a finance job search site.
Industry: Recruitment
Location: New York
Year founded: 2008
Number of employees: 45
Web address: OneWire.com
What's the biggest hurdle you've overcome?
When we launched, companies weren’t really hiring. We knew that since they weren’t hiring, we’d have a tough time attracting candidates to our site. To counter this potential dilemma, we leveraged our former contacts in the financial recruitment business and built the site in conjunction with six of the top investment companies. Fortunately, that strategy worked. Once we had the companies on board, the job seekers followed.
What's the biggest mistake you've made?
Not launching sooner. We thought we had our site’s launch timed perfectly – a March launch date should have put us in an ideal position to benefit from a July hiring surge for analysts and associates. However, the downturn threw us completely. So, rather than jumping right in, we had to spend more time selling companies on our site.
What's the best business advice you can offer?
Always be on the lookout for new opportunities, and be ready to pounce.
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