Julia Weeks
When you are hiring for your startup, the biggest mistake you can make is hiring too many hands-off managers and executives. Quite often, when a startup takes off, I have seen owners immediately revert to larger corporation strategies and begin hiring many skilled managers and executives.
When your startup begins to grow, you need to focus on hiring doers in order to be successful.
1. Your business needs more production.
When your startup business begins to grow, this means you are getting in more business. In turn, this means that you need more production in order to keep up with the new incoming business.
The last thing you need at this stage is a skilled manager who is not hands-on. You need worker bees in order to increase your production and get the job done. It may be difficult, but you will need to be in a hands-on management role for some time. You will need to make sure that your employees are trained correctly and understand your business.
Once you have trained your employees, you can then begin to pick out individual team leads to assist you.
2. You’re on a budget.
Let’s face it, most startups do not have a ton of cash to throw around. Skilled managers and executives cost money.
During the beginning stages of your startup, you must decide how you will allocate your funds and resources. Ask yourself if it is really more important to pay a skilled hands-off manager a 6 figure salary, or is it more beneficial for you to hire several motivated hands-on doers?
I recommend you allocate your funds towards hiring doers in the beginning. As business continues to grow and bring in profit, you can then think about hiring skilled executives and managers.
3. You need hands-on leaders.
The people you hire in the beginnings of your company are the ones who will be the experts. They will be an integral part of your company’s success. Not only will they be worker bees, but they will also be involved in establishing your company’s processes and procedures, as well as developing solutions. These employees will know your company inside and out. They will understand what works and what doesn’t work.
When it comes time for you to start thinking about hiring managers or executives, take a look at your current employees. Is there anyone with the potential to grow into a management or upper leadership position? If so, do they have a desire to do this? Once you have identified potential managers on your team, sit down and discuss with each employee individually to learn of their desires and express your expectations.
When it comes to your leadership team, you will need hands-on leaders who understand your business and are not afraid to get their hands dirty when needed.
At what point do you determine when to hire skilled management within your startup? Please share your recommendations in the comments below.
Image: monkeybusinessimages/BigStock.com
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