It all started in Mark’s kitchen.
After 40 years of running his own businesses, Mark knew the stress of hiring all too well. Not knowing exactly what to ask during an interview had led to a few bad hires over the years and, as every SME owner knows, a wrong hire has a devastating knock-on effect on both cash flow and team morale.
As the three of us got talking, we realised that we had all felt that exact same frustration. To make matters worse, we all saw that as candidates were using AI more and more to polish their CVs, the interview process was turning into a total guessing game. It was nearly impossible to separate inflated claims from real-world experience.
That guessing game gets even harder when you are hiring outside your own expertise. It is one thing to interview for a role you used to do yourself, but as your business grows, you need to hire for specialist skill sets outside your own comfort zone — and that brings a whole new layer of stress. You know the skills you are looking for, but how do you properly vet someone when you are not an expert in their field?
After speaking with dozens of fellow business owners, the message was loud and clear: SMEs without in-house HR support want a simple way to know what to ask during an interview and what to listen for in a candidate’s response.
So, after lots of coffee, debate, and tweaking around that kitchen table, The Skills Checker was born: a simple tool built to take the guesswork out of hiring and give you total confidence in every interview.
Founder & Business Owner
40+ Years Running Businesses
Mark came up with the idea for The Skills Checker out of pure necessity. After four decades hiring across industries, he learnt that knowing your trade inside out does not make you a good interviewer. So he brought those real-world challenges to the team, and together we built the platform and interview guides he wished he had had. Because great hires should not come down to luck.
Chief Marketing Officer
30 Years Commercial Marketing Experience | SME Business Owner
Lissa has spent nearly three decades launching and growing businesses both at home and abroad. Through her work as a Fractional CMO, she sees first-hand the daily frustrations SMEs face when trying to scale. As part of our founding team, Lissa helped translate those owner pain points into the product itself, ensuring our tools stay practical, jargon-free, and laser-focused on solving real operational challenges.
Chief Technology Officer
The Architect Behind the Platform
As our CTO, Ryan brings the technical muscle that turns complex hiring frameworks into simple, fast solutions. He designed The Skills Checker platform from the ground up, making sure all the smart automation happens behind the scenes so you get an interview guide for every candidate in seconds with zero setup. No training, no jargon, just the right questions when you need them most.
See how The Skills Checker gives you an interview guide for every candidate in 5 quick steps.