Who to Hire First When Setting Up Your Startup

Founding a startup may prove a good solution for resourceful, tech-savvy people with an idea. With some initial capital and good planning, every start-up has the potential to become successful. The key issue, however, is in finding the right people.

When hiring people for your team, you’ll want to make sure they share your vision before considering their skill sets. If they don’t, no amount of knowledge or experience will help you grow your business efficiently and fast.

Hence, the two things to consider first are employee personality and motivation.

Employee Personality

Startups have proven to be successful when managed properly and headed by motivated and knowledgeable teams. However, the main problem with finding the right people (similarly to remote work) lies in the fact that many employees are used to the "traditional" work (chiefly, office work).

If you find a fit among such candidates, look for a couple of traits, and use employee analytics to allow the transition to go smoothly and be worth the time invested.

Look for Leaders Instead of Managers

The role of leaders is relatively new and directly opposed to the traditional role of a manager. Leaders are, as a rule, engaged, motivated, creative and lead by example.

Keep in mind that many aspects of doing business in the present time rely on online communication, fast response, and timely adjustments. Your team members should be capable of handling all kinds of situations in a satisfactory manner, thinking fast, and acting with best practices in mind.

Note that startups are synonymous with risk, so you should only consider hiring bold people capable of withstanding the accompanying pressure it portends.

Look for Mentors and Educators

Next on, for a start-up to keep improving and driving engagement, continual learning is a must. Resourceful people familiar with digital trends indeed don’t need to be told that, but you’ll still need to invest some effort in inspiring the team to brainstorm learning ideas.

Custom eLearning (and mLearning, for that matter) is a common practice nowadays, but you should go one step further and organize workshops where team members will exchange and brainstorm ideas. This practice also strengthens the ties between people, and successful start-ups are nothing if not families.

Look for Skillful Communicators

Lastly, start-ups are all about communication — both face-to-face and online. As regards the first, use workshops and team building activities to get people to open up and get to know one another. As for the latter, you’ll need to make sure that people are comfortable taking initiative "on the go."

It must be said here that a proper choice of tools is absolutely essential for a start-up. Don’t simply rely on free, popular services. If your scope of business requires it, invest in quality apps and tools as your startups’ success literally depends on efficient communication.

To make things run more smoothly, think about encouraging and promoting asynchronous communication (communication that doesn’t require recipients’ immediate attention) to ward off stressful situations whenever possible.

Occupations to Consider

When it comes to employee occupation, much relies on the actual niche and the projected scope of business. However, every start-up needs professionals from all walks of life, notably HR staff, IT people, and marketers. For the best results, you’ll also need a skilled and motivated SEO team.

HR teams take care of all kinds of things and make sure that all aspects of a business run smoothly all the time. Take your time choosing just the right HR staff and keep in mind that in the case of startups, merely holding a diploma from a prestigious university may not cut it.

Rather, look for people used to dynamic working environments versed in online communication. Did we mention they need to be fast thinkers? This rule applies to all occupations.

Further out, skilled marketers are essential for every start-up. Even though in this line of occupation much relies on networking, you’ll want the best of the best promoting your efforts. Think in terms of email marketing, ad campaigns, social media advertising and cross-promotions of all kinds.

Setting Up Your Startup

Now that we’ve considered the workforce, let’s start with the setup. The two most crucial roles in a start-up are the CEO and COO (chief operations officer). Typically, the CEO oversees the vision, culture, and overall company direction, whereas the COO takes care of day-to-day operations.

Next, you’ll need a CTO and front-end and back-end engineers, especially when founding a tech start-up.

You’ll also need a CMO (chief marketing officer) who will focus on the customers and direct the marketing team in making future decisions.

The next person to look for is a CFO. In some start-ups, the founder takes care of this role, but if you’re not experienced in the field, it’s best to hire a skilled CFO who will manage all aspects of the company’s finances.

Additional Team Members

Once you’ve set up your startup’s structure, look for stellar customer service representatives and business development managers, who aren’t afraid to deploy productivity hacks.

The latter are in charge of growing the business (applies both to sales and marketing). A skilled business development manager may focus on developing partnerships or deepening connections with other businesses in order to ensure growth and maximize revenue.

Finally, customer service is critical for overall company success and you’ll have no difficulties finding a slew of professionals, given that the occupation has been in demand of late. It goes without saying that building good relationships with the customers is paramount, so, again, look for people versed in online communication.

Conclusion

Bottom line, the first team members to look for when setting up a start-up are CEO, COO, product manager, CTO, CMO, CFO, business development manager, sales manager and customer service representatives.

Look for the traits mentioned above, notably leadership, fast thinking and stellar communication skills. Build your start-up culture on a strong foundation solidified by these values and communicate clearly the vision to all employees.

Start-ups are dynamic environments where nearly all kinds of scenarios are possible, so you’ll do well to assemble a diversified team of enthusiastic professionals sharing your values.

Angela Ash is an expert writer, editor and marketer, with a unique voice and expert knowledge. She focuses on topics related to remote work, freelancing, entrepreneurship and more.