Gwen Moran

When Javier Muchado joined Gentle Giant Moving Company in 2004, he thought he would be there for a few months and then move on. But Larry O'Toole and John "J.P." Pacocha, the Somerville, Mass.-based company's owners, had other ideas. They observed Muchado on a few jobs and recognized that he was physically strong and smart--a winning combo for a business that requires equal measures of muscle, troubleshooting ability and people skills.

1. The poor fit. Bibby Gignilliat, 51, chief executive of Parties that Cook in San Francisco, thought she had hired a winner but found her new employee’s customer-service skills far from polished. “She kept saying things were ‘awesome’ and ‘totally cool’ and she would use ‘like’ every other word, even after repeated coaching, making a bad impression on customers," Gignilliat says