Who Should Your First Hire Be?

Being an entrepreneur brings with it many new challenges and opportunities. Once you have planted the seeds for your business, you water it, nurture it, and then it takes shape and grows. Therefore, the first person you bring on board after you launch holds special importance. That person needs to be passionate, loyal, trustworthy, and someone who doesn’t quit.

As a new business owner, you need to reach out to people with varied expertise, and your business will gain immensely from their association. Therefore, you not only have to bring on a person who can work alongside you, but also someone who will bring value to your endeavor. The person should share your vision, and have the same goals in mind.

Consider evaluating the following traits as you consider who to bring on:

• A self-motivated person, who can be tough when necessary.
• A person who can stand alone and who has similar experience from their last job/outing.
• Someone who is confident, but not bordering on arrogance.
• Someone who has the same interests and passions as you. This gives you common ground as you build your relationship.
• You should be able to trust them.
• They should believe in your mission.
• Make sure to get a person who is enthusiastic and passionate, and believes in the program, rather than someone who’s just looking for a salary.
• Consider a person who can get their hands dirty, and not a pencil pusher. Chances are that being a new business, there will be times when everyone has to pitch in equally.

What Do You Require?

The new hire should be someone who complements your set of qualities, but also has skills you don’t possess. Also consider what their role should be, if they should get shares of the company, whether they’ll come on full-time or part-time, and other options.

Evaluate the Hire

All startups or businesses have different needs and wants, and also different requirements. Make sure the person you select is the best fit for the job and role. For any startup, when hiring for roles, the focus should be on strengthening both internal and external relationships of the business. Your company values, ethos, and culture should also be kept in mind when making the choice.

Normally, a startup requires the following roles early on:

• Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
• Chief Operations Officer (COO)
• Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
• Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
• Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
• Product Manager
• Sales and Marketing
• Business Development Manager
• Customer Service

Because budget always plays a primary role in any business effort, there should be a conscious decision in hiring based on what you can afford. An experienced person might be able to do more and add value to your business proposition rather than a newbie straight out of business school. These kinds of decisions will have to be made by you.

Your first hire is a huge step, and you need to do things the right way. It could be a daunting task, but if your first hire remains there for the long haul, that alone will be a great achievement you can be proud of.

You can also think outside the box and look into outsourcing. Many companies successfully outsource their staffing, recruitment, taxation, finance, operations, and customer care to companies who have the expertise. They will do the job for you, and also be very professional about it. It tends to act as a force multiplier.