Having the resources to quickly and efficiently run a Background Check on potential employees or contractors can be a challenge for small businesses.  Many sole proprietors and entrepreneurs just take people on their word because they just don't have the time to research their history. 

It is important to conduct background checks when hiring or making contracts because if your employee or representative breaks the law while doing their duties for your company, you can be held liable in some instances.  Conducting a Criminal Check can help you find out if that person has a history of fraud or theft and can protect you from repeat offenders.  

You might also be looking for a litte more information or verification of what the applicant has told you about themselves.  There are people who give false or leading information in their enthusiasm to work for you and then you end up with a person that may not be actually qualified to do the job.

The National Criminal Background Check by SentryLink gives one report with information on criminal records including misdemeanors and felonies very affordably.  You can run several background checks at once to save time.  They also provide you with a resource center where you can get information about employee screening, including FCRA regulations compliance with printable employee background check release form.

Are you familiar with Guy Kawasaki?  He was part of the Mac/Apple team back in the day.  Now days he's a big entrepreneurial guru.  I just got his book "Art of the Start" at the library.  Very good read. 

I also like his blog. http://blog.guykawasaki.com/

If you scroll down a little on the right there are categories for bootstrapping & pitching any of you entrepreneurs out there might enjoy.

Currently Reading The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything By Guy Kawasaki see related

In the future, hubby and I would like to start a brick and mortar real life company with a building and employees and all that jazz. Alberta has a very competitive market for IT workers and it is hard to recruit and retain loyal employees. Even with an economic downturn happening in the nearby US, Alberta's crunch for technical workers shows no sign of letting up.

In planning for a new business, I've been trying to look at other creative ways to find and keep good staff. At hubby's new job, the orientation & training were nearly absent. The first thing I want to do is show new employees they are valuable and important to us by making sure they know what they need to do and where to get answers for questions they run into. I have an unconventional management style where my philosophy is to empower the employee and I think this will work to our benefit. As their boss, I believe I am there to lift them up in their jobs, not treat them as my slaves. My staff always have my trust and I show this by giving them self-learning and personal development goals. I show my confidence in them by delegating as much of the challenging work I can, even if it means I have to do the filing or data entry at times.

As a startup, we won't have a lot of funds for bonuses and not a lot of places to go in promotions at the start. However, there are ways I want to explore of rewarding employees that include more flexible time schedules, time off, more privacy and better working conditions. One of my biggest beliefs in managing employees is to prove cross training. By making everyone multi-functional, it boosts moral because people understand what their coworkers are doing. It gives the employer a little slack if someone is ill and it relieves the boredom that can happen in strict job roles.

For us, its all still a long ways out- two to three years, I would guess. I think it is going to take me that long to learn all the nuances involved.

No Plan, No Capital, No Model...No Problem

[While it is difficult to work without my di.fm music today, I got a boost in the right direction from watching Guy Kawasaki run a panel of self-starting entrepreneurs.] - http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/06/no-plan-no-capi.html