Even if you are the most technically advanced person or the savviest CEO-wannabe, you need people to run the business. You can’t do everything, because realistically, your skills have limitations. Choosing people for the team, however, is crucial. Because the team will form the force behind the startup, you have to select your people with deliberate and careful considerations. Here are some reminders that can help you form your team.
Know your own skills. The team’s role is basically to complement. Your team should make up for the skills you are lacking as an entrepreneur/founder. In other words, if you are good at web designing and bad at marketing, choose people who can fill the marketing job. In the same way, if you are good at the business side but can’t put together a decent website, hire technical and Internet-savvy individuals.
Invest in experienced people. You will most likely select only a few people for the team, and if there are only a few people in it, you need to hire the best persons who can carry out their functions very well. When hiring, look at the professional experience of the candidates—the length and extent of their experience and their accomplishments. It’s okay to hire young individuals, but make sure they are passionate learners of the field.
Think of diversity. Diversity gives your team, and consequently your business, the teeth it needs to breakthrough the industry. If each member has a specific function to do, the business is likely to move forward. Make sure your people know what their functions are and where they stand in the business to encourage accountability.
Prioritize trustworthiness. Any business, especially a startup one, is a risk-filled environment where trustworthy people are needed. If you want your business to push through its limit, you need to hire people who can be trusted with money, trade secrets, and other important elements of a startup. Remember: No amount of talent and skills can replace trustworthiness.
Pick team players. A team player understands what his role is in the business and performs it well to complement the efforts of the entire team. A team player doesn’t necessarily mean an person who prefers working with a team. Rather, it refers to an individual who, regardless of his working style—whether he likes to work with a team or work on his own—goes along well with others, at least professionally, to achieve your goal as a business.
Choose individuals receptive to challenges. A startup will meet several bumps along the way, challenging the entire team to a great extent. People who are averse to challenges will give up early and easily and leave the business behind. But people who welcome challenges like an everyday phenomenon are likely to succeed in pushing the startup forward. You need this kind of people in your team.
Your choice of team members can either build up or crash down your startup, so pick them intelligently. In fact, building a startup team is something you shouldn’t take lightly.
About the Author: Margaret Keely is a writer and educator, desires to help startup entrepreneurs while helping future nurses by providing quality nursing education.
