By The Young Entrepreneur Council

The Young Entrepreneur Council asked 15 successful young entrepreneurs to explain their secret for keeping their start-up employees happy and motivated. Here are their best answers.

1. Have a Little Faith in Hires

If you hired these people, you should trust them to do their job. Entrepreneurs like to keep everything close to their chest, but you can move quicker and more creatively if you give your employees the autonomy to complete their projects with direction, but without micro-managing. Don't overestimate the cost of small failures.
-- Ryan Stephens, Ryan Stephens Marketing

2. Ask How They Are... and Actually Listen

A simple "How are you?" means so much. Employees will either smile and say "fine" or use the opportunity to express a concern. I've had jobs where my boss never asked that question, and I didn't feel valued. Asking such a simple question is a free way to show your employees that they are being heard.
-- Nancy T. Nguyen, Sweet T

3. Concert Tickets, Anyone?

As a bonus for one of our employees, I decided to pull some strings and get her tickets to a sold out concert here in town.

Consumer savvy, smart shopping and common sense all had a great year, according to Better Business Bureau. Consumers asked BBB for help more than 103 million times in 2011, up from 87 million in 2010 and the highest rate in the organization’s 100-year history. Conversely, filings of formal complaints against businesses were down across the U.S. and Canada; 927,000 in 2011 compared to just over one million in 2010.

“That is terrific news, that’s what we want to see,” said Carrie A. Hurt, CEO of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB), the umbrella organization for the 116 BBBs across North America. “When consumers come to us first for information about businesses, they are much less likely to need our dispute resolution services later.”

BBB maintains Business Reviews on more than 4 million businesses and grades them based on complaint histories, responsiveness to customers, licensing, legal and government action, and other factors. 400,000 are Accredited Businesses that meet the BBB Code of Business Practices and are permitted to display the BBB logo in their advertising and place of business.

Industry

2011 Total Inquiries

Rank by number of Inquiries1

Percentage Change over 2010

Roofing Contractors

3,343,214

1

38.8%