Mark Palmer, Negosentro | If you are an entrepreneur or founder of a startup, one of the most critical decisions you can make is to hire. If you use the right approach you can build a stellar team that can compete with anyone. If you fail to hire the right way or in the right order your app could suffer and your startup could collapse. So hire your first five positions in the following order:
Programming Skills
Programming is ruling the modern world. It seems that everything runs on code today. From smartphones, to apps, to websites, if you don’t have software skills then you need coders who do. There’s a reason they are some of the most well paid positions in the world, but shelling out the cash will pay for itself in the long run. After all, programming is what makes your product, and you can’t grow quickly if people don’t love it. So hire this position first and foremost before even considering the others.
A lot of times you can find great programmers by looking for those who have stayed on a coding campus or done some kind of immersion event. This typically means they have invested time and money and been forced to produce results. These skills will transfer into the product you have.
Accounting
The reality is that accounting is the backbone of your startup. If you don’t have money, you can’t stay afloat. And if you’re spending more than you’re bringing in from revenue, your runway is going to disappear fast, taking the entire company with it.
One option is to get further investment rounds to keep growing while you reach a critical mass and can go public. However, no matter what your exit plan is, you can’t execute it if you don’t have the numbers. Hire an accountant in the early days and give them everything they need to be successful in this position. You won’t regret it because your bottom line will thank you.
Sales
It’s not only important that you hire fast, but that you hire the right people. This is true especially in sales. Your sales team are the front line of your company. When they’re talking with customers they need to be able to listen well and solve their problem. Sleazy doesn’t work anymore, so avoid the used car salesman type and go for the caring and modern sales person who uses empathy and understanding while selling.
Marketing
Marketing is what makes the sales team’s job easy. If you do it right, you will have marketing that creates an entire brand in the mind of customers. With the right brand, you can charge higher prices, get more users, and get in with the right crowds so that the virality of your startup takes off.
That’s the reason you need to hire marketing right off the bat. Marketers know how to save you money by getting you more exposure. They can place ads in places that are going to give you leverage and crush the competition. Make sure your marketing team can write creative copy so they don’t just make you look good, but they actually help you convert customers through a proper online funnel. And every marketing team should have someone who is testing the results.
Design
UX and UI are crucial in startups today. Long gone are the days where an ugly app or webpage would suffice. People expect virtual art galleries online today. Respect this desire by getting the best designers you can find on staff.
In today’s day and age, the internet has required that startups move faster than before. You need to hire to compete. Start with programming, and work your way into the other positions to get a team together that can create a great product and share it with the world while keeping your ship afloat. Then, enjoy your massive success in the startup world with an app that can compete with the best of them.
