Complaints are the first challenge. The second one is that someone doesn't pay. The third challenge is when you want to expand and you don't have the necessary documents.

I like to use either a top-down or a bottom-up approach to contracting, depending on the industry and a range of other things.

You need to be convinced that this person actually cares about what you are trying to achieve and what is important to you. So I would want to know, even if I was on the other side of the table, whether we share common values, whether ethical values that I deem to be important are also important to you. 

It's about practicality. If you are going to pitch to a competitor or a client for a unique solution, something that only you know how to do and you know it gives you the edge, be smart. Share enough to make the sale, but not all the finer details to construct the solution. Alternatively, get an NDA signed.

The traditional three-month probation period must be used wisely. Make sure you do the training and the onboarding. Measure them, even if you just use a little Google forms-based quiz test - it doesn't have to be extremely taxing. Get them to fill in a couple of questions to showcase how well they know the system.

The typical probation period is three months. It can be extended, but not to more than six months, because then we are toying with the idea of a permanent contract. 

First would be for operational reasons. The second reason could be for disciplinary or behavioural reasons. The third reason would be incapacity.

CCMA stands for the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. It was the first alternative dispute resolution structure in our country where people with grievances could go without needing to hire a lawyer and without needing to go to court to resolve their dispute. 

My one-sentence perspective would be to choose your relationships well for where you are right now. Where you need to be and where you need to go has to be from a solid foundation.