How Interns Have Helped My Business

Guest Post by Lisa Hendrickson, owner of Call That Girl, 15 years experience of supporting client computer issues.

Back in the spring of 2008, I had just a few clients but was somewhat bored working by myself, so I opted to get an unpaid intern to go along with me on the computer repair jobs. She stayed on with me for 6 months and we both learned quite a bit. I learned how to teach someone new to the field and she got repair experience. Going ahead a year, I decided that I had a need for a business intern. I had been in business for a year and a half and felt I had plenty to offer a business student.

My second intern started out helping me with business development and marketing projects. He came in the office a couple of times a week and we got many ideas down and put some into action. By the end of the 4th month, he asked if one of his friends could join us for only marketing campaigns. I agreed. Then more friends came along as I found new projects and opportunities for these kids to learn from. I had also placed an ad online at one of the local colleges, and that ad drew in more interested candidates (and I got over 1000 web hits from doing that ad, sneaky marketing trick)

What does my small computer repair business have to offer these young students? Projects, mentoring and help build them decent resumes. Since last fall, I have had a steady team of 4 students that all had different backgrounds and learning needs. We have the Chief Operating Officer, the Business Developer, the Marketing Manic and the Customer Relationship Manager.

The COO intern has taken all of my raw data and turned them into financial spreadsheets. He also makes projections about future quarters and advises me on where we need to spend or save money. He works closely with me on needs for the company, for example, the manual of operations.

Next up, we have the Savvy Business Developer. He’s the creative minded one who enjoys brainstorming new ideas. Right now, his current project is working with Salesforce.com to create a one stop shop for all of our needs. CRM, helpdesk, email marketing and using social media.

Our Marketing Maniac, in the past he has worked on smaller marketing campaigns that have been great successes. He right now is working on a marketing plan for the second location I plan on opening in May. He is also using the help of the other interns to pull this off.

Finally, we have the CRM specialist who is striving ahead in the customer service area. He really likes working with people and we have new projects lined up for him including customer relations and building specialized group lists to propose to.

Working with interns is a lot of work for the small business owner. You have to manage them just like employees and have something of value to offer them, or they will get bored and leave. I made it clear when they all started that they would not be doing my “grunt” work, but rather valuable learning projects that fulfill needs of my company and their resumes.

If you have a few things in mind that you feel you could use some help with, I recommend starting up a list of projects and go out and seek a local student to help you with those. Keep in mind, that you will have to learn to work around their personal lives, their school requirements and other issues that come up on a weekly basis, but for what’s it worth, I have enjoyed having them all on the team.

Lisa Hendrickson, owner of Call that girl, 15 years experience of supporting client computer issues. New member to Technibble.com, but is very fond of writing to help others. Her articles will include topics of business, marketing, advertising, client support and social media. Be sure to read her posts and check out her blog at http://www.callthatgirl.biz