Beginning a startup is always a risky and exciting business. Get it right, and you might just have a multi-million-dollar company in its infancy. Get it wrong, and you’ll waste your time and money, not to mention how much it can hurt your ego. It’s important to keep in mind that most startups end up failing. It’s equally important to recognize the characteristics of the most successful startups so that you can emulate them. One of the most important ones? Hiring the right kind of roles. If you’re ready to launch your startup, here are the roles that you should be looking to fill as soon as possible.
The Founder/CEO
The founder/CEO of the company is the visionary. They can see beyond tomorrow—they know what the overall goals are and how to get there. They’re also an incredible leader, able to lead a brand-new team to success, even through the more challenging moments. As the founder, it might be your job to be the CEO, which requires a lot of work. You’ll be the leader responsible for pushing the company forward and finding innovative ways to deliver excellence to customers and clients.
Remember that the company’s founder doesn’t necessarily have to be the CEO. In some cases, hiring a CEO works better. This is especially true if the founder has other businesses or responsibilities!
The IT Know-it-all
Technology is an integral part of any company, and as a startup, you must invest in good IT to stand any chance of beating the competition in this tech-focused world. Having an IT know-it-all on your side will help tremendously. Their responsibilities will include maintaining hardware and software, protecting against cyber-attacks, and creating new software systems/applications.
IT requires a person with a very particular skill set. Often, IT people come with a high price tag—their salary is much higher than other roles. If you don’t have the budget for an in-house IT department, there’s always the option of outsourcing it. In this case, it’s crucial to find a high-quality IT service provider with a lot of IT experience. Choosing the best Los Angeles managed service provider means identifying your specific tech needs, ensuring a good culture fit, and ensuring the provider offers a flexible, tailored plan for your startup.
The Marketing Executive
Many startups make the mistake of assuming that they can handle the marketing all by themselves—don’t be one of them. The marketing executive provides a crucial service to the effectiveness of the startup. In essence, they’re responsible for getting the product/service into the minds and hands of customers.
The marketing executive will be responsible for managing the marketing of the company (and the company’s products/services). They should have a lot of experience in doing this, understanding the different markets and how to work within a budget. They’ll also know how to conduct effective marketing research to boost the efforts of the marketing campaigns.
The Efficient Leader
While the CEO is the overall boss, they often won’t be on the ground floor. Instead, that should be left up to a good leader. Hiring an effective manager means ensuring that all areas of the business run efficiently. You’ll be able to rely on this person to help make sure that all business goals get met each day, whether that’s hiring the next best employee or handling daily production.
The Accountant
Does an early startup really need an accountant? Maybe not at first, but accountants provide essential accounting and auditing services that all businesses need. They’ll maintain financial records, ensure that the proper taxes are paid, organize payroll, and more. It’s not something that the CEO will want to be spending their time on! Outsourcing might be a good idea at first, but having an in-house accountant can make things run a lot smoother.
The Salesperson
You might think the marketing executive and the salesperson are almost the same person, but that’s where you’d be wrong. On the one hand, marketers focus on targeting specific customer bases, conducting general research, and building a brand. On the other, you have the salesperson, who deals directly with potential clients and customers.
Having a good salesperson on your startup team can make a world of difference to your success. Their charisma and confidence will mean closing on leads, ensuring continuous growth. Plus, a talented salesperson will even drive more customer and client loyalty, as, for many of them, they’ll be the face of the company.
The Product Developer
Who’s going to develop the products/services for the company? Even if you, as the founder, had an excellent idea initially, you still need to make sure your products keep coming and stay up to date with the needs of the market. For this, a talented product developer is necessary. Their skill set should include coding, creativity, and persistence, as they won’t only be responsible for creating the product but also testing it and ironing out any mistakes. The product developer is one of those hires that will cost you a little more, but their talents are more than worth it (and necessary).
Is Outsourcing Worth it?
In the early days of running a startup, you might not be able to hire a salesperson, product developer, or marketing executive. That’s okay—a lot of startups are in the same boat as you! In this case, you might consider outsourcing.
Outsourcing specific roles can be a great way to ensure that you get the benefit of having an expert without having to pay a full-time employee. Many businesses find excellence in outsourced services. You just need to make sure the provider you choose, whether it’s for IT, accounting, or marketing, aligns with your startup goals.
The Bottom Line
While you might not have the funds to hire every single role on this list in the early days, you should keep in mind just how effective hiring these roles can be. Over time, you can build a team that delivers excellent results day in and day out. For that to work, you need a diverse group that includes people with specific strengths. The salesperson won’t have the same talents as the accountant, and that’s okay!
