Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Scott.
Hi Jennifer, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
HireEffect™ has been helping small businesses across various industries grow and expand their operations since 2007.
I originally started the company to support small businesses with recruiting, leveraging the enterprise-level recruitment strategies I learned over 15 years in agency-side and corporate recruiting roles. With the understanding that small business owners and local entrepreneurs were not necessarily experts at hiring or managing talent, I wanted to help. By focusing on hiring people who align with company culture and the organization’s core values rather than simply matching skills listed on paper, I was proud to be a valuable recruiting asset for many organizations in my community.
In 2018, after what I now call a “happy accident”, my life – and my business – took a momentous turn. My husband joined me, and we set out on a significantly different journey. We made the difficult decision to hire a team and expand our services to become a one-stop shop supporting founder-led businesses. We began offering services that included bookkeeping, payroll, HR, recruiting, and more.
We bootstrapped and rebuilt our business through blood, sweat, tears, and 7-day work weeks. I got involved in the Conscious Capitalism movement, which I had been introduced to two years earlier. We structured our business around its four tenets: Higher Purpose, Stakeholder Orientation, Conscious Leadership, and Conscious Culture. And we slowly began to build momentum.
At the end of 2019, I was selected for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. I graduated in April of 2020 in the chaos of the beginning of the Pandemic.
At that moment, every small business owner needed clarity around finance and HR, and I became a one-woman COVID task force, pouring everything I could into the small business community, both through the 10KSB alumni organization and on social media. We helped our clients navigate health and safety issues, the EIDL, PPP, PPP forgiveness, and, later, the ERC, all without charging an extra dollar. We paused billing for clients who were severely impacted. We were losing money and were overextended, and still managed to retain 100% of our clients and employees.
We now offer what the industry calls Client Advisory Services, focused on protecting and advancing owner-led businesses. Our purpose is to help them thrive and grow, ultimately creating sustainable jobs in the communities we serve. We currently employ 22 people in 8 states.
I like to say that we help founders find their freedom by combining business processes, finance, HR, and strategic consulting services to get them out of the back office and back to the reason they started their businesses in the first place.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We’ve been through so much that struggles now feel like speed bumps. We had to rebuild, rebrand, and reinvent everything as a new company in the bookkeeping advisory and payroll space. And we were not profitable, so any revenue was good revenue. Right up until we realized it wasn’t, which took time. We held true to our core values and began onboarding only the clients we believed were ideal. That was a huge turning point.
We’ve been impressed with HireEffect, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
At HireEffect, we know it takes a village to manage your business. We’re entrepreneurs, too. We get it. We understand what you’re going through as a small business owner. We exist to help community-minded founder-led businesses thrive and grow, creating jobs in the communities we serve.
Our People First | Technology Forward approach combines people and processes with tools that reduce administrative headaches, drive efficiency and effectiveness, and help our clients make meaningful progress. We believe that when business owners are free to focus their time and talents on pursuing their vision and why they started their business in the first place, they will inevitably make a positive difference in our society.
I am most proud of our four core values: We Put People First, We Are Technology Forward, We Drive Change, and We Embrace Accountability.
We add value that goes beyond expectations to make our clients’ lives easier. Our holistic suite of services is designed for business owners who appreciate efficiency, embrace technology, and, most importantly, want to grow their business.
What else makes us different?
We are more than one person, and still personal. And we’re responsive. We always assign at least two people to work with each of our clients. This means that even if someone is out unexpectedly or taking some personal time, there is always someone here who fully understands their business. And we go way beyond
compliance. We consult, collaborate, and communicate weekly. We also have in-depth knowledge of technology integration. We make systems work together.
We have been named as one of America’s Top 70 Small Businesses by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and have been awarded the Woodard Top 50 Client Advisory Services Practice for three years running: 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Books:
Anything by Patrick Lencioni
The Speed of Trust by Stephen Covey (the son)
The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor
Getting Things Done by David Allen
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hireeffect.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hireeffect/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HireEffect
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hireeffect-llc
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferscott/
