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Starting a Business: Hire the right People
When we hire people, we need to choose those who have the right skills and attitude. Any business, especially a startup, cannot afford to hire someone who does not fit in. It is the team that matters more than the brilliant B-Plan you have. I can go on and on about how important it is to get the right people in, and build the right team.
With resources running low and lot of things to do, it is the belief in the idea/product that can push anyone to give their best. It is very important to see that, the one you hire initially (at-least) understands what you are doing and believe that it can work.
Some of the qualities you must look into when hiring for your startup:
- Required Skill-set
This is obviously the first thing you need to check - Does he have the required skill-set to do what he is being hired for. - Proactive
With resources being scanty, you can’t afford to have someone monitoring each and every employee. They must be proactive and resposible. - Jack of all
They must be able flexible and be ready to do whatever is required. As you wont be able to have different people for each and every task, the people on board must be ready to multi-task whenever required. - Believe in the Product/Idea
To give 100%, to get those creative juices flowing, to be able to do what it takes, he must believe that your product/idea can work. Without this, he can just be another employee; Not, the employee, you were looking for.
Hire a guy who has a balance of above qualities.
One problem you will face is - You may not be able to afford this guy! There are many ways you can get him on board without spending every last of your penny. Will post on that shortly.
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If you like this then please subscribe to the Starting a Business: Choose the right partner
It is always a better idea to start a venture with a partner, than doing it single handed. But, not so, if you choose the wrong one!
A wrong choice here might prove is fatal. You choose a wrong partner and certainly you are on your way to the doom-land.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Is he trust worthy?
- Is he valuable to the company?
- Is he as hardworking as you?
- Is he worthy enough(contribute enough) to own a part of your company?
If the answer to all the above questions is “YES“, then you may proceed. If answer is “NO” to any of the above questions, then it is a strict “NO” for making him/her your partner.
If he is bring in money, contacts and other resources which have value to the company and help it grow. You may consider him after a check on his attitude.
It is better to choose someone who compliments your skill set, than someone who is exactly like you, even though we might be choose the latter. Complimentary skill set goes a long way in helping you concentrate more on your core and directly results in the quality of the output.
One of the common mistake we do when choosing a partner is to choose someone who we think will listen to us and assist us rather than someone who is equal or better than us, maybe because of insecurity. Do not do this.
Think twice before you choose your Boy Friend/ Girl Friend as your partner, unless they have a degree from Standford or Harvard.
Starting a Business: Always have a backup plan
How much ever we plan, things do go wrong, and we get unexpected results. Remember the Murphy’s law - “If anything can go wrong, it will!“?
Having a backup plan helps you to come out of the situation without hurting yourself too much. Backup plan helps you to be up and running before you loose it all.
First of all, we need to avoid getting into these kind of situations. A proper market research will go a long way. I had stressed how crucial research is in one of my previous posts - “Starting a Business: Research before jumping in“.
Even if you did research thoroughly, sometimes things do go wrong due to various uncertainties.
Always keep a check on activities. If things are not working as expected, make adjustments to the plan and try it out, before thinking of making a radical change. Most of the time this should work.
Many a times we face situation where we have to choose between, high risk-high paying or not so high risk-paying. Have tracking points with the minimum return you expect by that time, evaluate yourself and if things are not working as expected by that time, then think over of making adjustments to your initial plan.
One more advantage of having a backup plan is the thought process that goes to create it itself. It prepares you well for the times ahead.
Starting a Business: No to Unwanted Facilities
When money is tight, as the case is, in any startup, you do not want to be spending on unnecessary things. But unfortunately, that is what most of us end up doing.
We tend to get our priorities wrong and spend too much money and time on things like, Big Office space, logo, fancy web template, going for a costly web server, luxury to mention a few. Instead of which, you need to be spending your resources on product development, market research, sales.
Drive your resources on activities/infrastructure which will help your company to go to the next level.
Below is the list of things you can save cash/resources on atleast in the early stage of your startup
- No to costly Logo : Do not spend a zillion dollars and time on choosing your logo, you can always change it when you have resources. An awesome logo with a mediocre product won’t do good in any way
- No to Fancy website design : A simple website will do, don’t spend too much on a web designer.
- No to Big Office space : Even a garage will do for a startup, do not spend on big office space at posh locations. This is totally unnecessary
- No to Hiring accountants/lawyers : Try to outsource your work. Hiring will eat up into your time as well.
- Rent instead of buying : Rent equipment where ever you can. As today’s need might not be of tomorrow’s, spending money on some equipment might turn out to be a total wastage of investment.
Always remember, your product must be your USP, not the website/ office where you sell them.
It is very important to concentrate on product than anything else.
Starting a Business: Do you have enough money?
Do not underestimate the cost involved in getting your new business up and running. There will be lots of unforeseen expenditure which might eat into your budget and cause problems in the run. Make an approximate of how much you need to get your company up and running.
Some of the common expenditures are:
- Man Power
- Equipment/Infrastructure
- Softwares, Hosting
- Marketing and Sales expenditure
- Misc - Stationary, Food/Snacks etc
Above is just the list common expenditures. Depending on your type of business and how you operate you may have to add/remove to the above list.
Even if you think you have taken all expenditures into account, I must stress, there will be some unforeseen expenditure coming your way. It is always a better idea to add buffer money to your budget, so that you won’t have to panic later on.
One mistake, we passionate entrepreneurs do, is to add small expenditures to our personal budget. “Why not? Its our company anyway!” - you might think. This is a very bad attitude and will eat up your savings before you even realise as most of the small expenditures are recurring.
Try to avoid projected sales revenue into the current budget. This is a very dangerous mistake and will prove fatal if the sales doesn’t happen. Do not do this ever, unless you have drained all your other sources and have no other way to go.
Having an idea of how much you need, to get your company up and running must be an integral part of the decision making process. It makes you concious of the monetary condition and prepares you for the times ahead.
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