Do more using your core strengths! Avoid this costly custom app development mistake.

Sometimes even the best of us trip on the human asset recruitment speed bump and do more than just skin our knees. The Austin Business Journal, like some of its sister journals, opens up its pages to the business community to nominate and vote annually for the best business leaders in the region.

When they recently listed the area’s 2015 Entrepreneurs of the Year, it was really a valid reinforcement to hear a fast-growth company leader talk about his largest leadership mistake. And it really addresses the stressful choice many of you face . . . under unnecessary pressure; hire to grow.

Here are Eric Long’s comments and then my suggestion to sum up:

“Hiring the wrong people who didn’t fit the culture was my biggest mistake”, Eric Long said. “Just because someone has the right work experience and looks good on paper, it doesn’t mean that they are the right cultural fit. I think hiring decisions are one of the most important decisions an entrepreneur has to make. Don’t rush, get infatuated and hire the wrong candidate culturally. Nobody bats a thousand in hiring, so when you make the wrong hire culturally, it is in both the candidate’s and the company’s best interest to quickly part ways.”

Look beyond the applicant tracking software output. Do what you do best, then outsource the rest. If you outsource your customized software development projects, then your emphasis can be on your core operations while avoiding distractions from being forced into internally developing complex customized software. The key to successful outsourcing is to maintain a clear channel of communication with the right team of software engineers.

The customized software they deliver will adapt to your processes, not erode any existing network software and will be more flexible than a one-size-fits-all solution.