Scale Up on a Shoe String

Hiring is hard but hiring for start-ups can be even harder. As a young company with limited cash flow, hiring the wrong employee can potentially break your start-up. Its a double-edged sword, you might hire people who are inexperienced and they could potentially damage your brand, on the other side you might be attracted by the experienced and highly skilled, but your company may not be ready for this type of person, it could lead to them leaving in the first 12 months due to being underutilized, which again can be very disruptive.

Therefore, you must be very careful with your decisions and do your best to hire top talent. Below you can find some suggestions on hiring the best start-up employees.

1. Build your company with a mission and vision.

In your earliest days, you won't have the money to offer big salaries to your employees. In order to convince top talent to come and work for you, you need to build a company with a great mission and vision that excites them. As a founder, you must be able to share your long-term vision with your potential employees and present your company in the best way.

2. Hire your fanbase.

Hiring fans means hiring people who will take ownership within the company and, as a result, will work harder than regular employees. Also, fans are great for word-of-mouth marketing. If they truly enjoy working for your start-up, they will tell their friends how great it is to work for you, and eventually, these friends will want to work for you as well. If your fans do not have the right skills for your start-up, you might consider finding a place for them anyway. Attitude can beat skills in some roles. 

3. Consider hiring remote employees.

If you are having difficulty finding talent in your local area, remote employees are a necessity. Hiring remote means you have an entire world full of talented employees from which to choose. Remote working options are a no-cost perk. And if remote employees are not a viable choice for your start-up, perhaps you can offer flexible working arrangements, such as working from the office three days a week and two days at home or in a co-networking location to entice talent to choose your company.

4. Be a great place to work.

Word of mouth is an effective tool for finding great talent. If your current employees are happy with their work environment, they will talk to their friends about it. Build and maintain great company culture, be a great place to work and great people will want to work for you. Introduce a referral scheme. Even a small token gift voucher can be reward enough. People who enjoy their jobs, co-workers and the environment will work harder, leave less, and add more value to your company.

5. Start building your brand from day one.

One of the main reasons people want to work for certain companies is to be associated with a popular brand. Everyone wants to invest himself/herself to take their career one step further and a hot, new brand with possible growth opportunities can be exciting for top talent. It’s crucial that you effectively market your company on social media, podcasts, and blogs, sponsor events, meetups and show people what it is like to work for you.

6. Hold onto your existing talent. 

Talented people want to work with other talented people. They are interested in working with people who drive and inspire them. Learning from each other and celebrating each other’s successes help talented people develop. And when you have great talent, it becomes easier to attract even more top talent.

7. Offer challenging projects. 

Talented people don't want to waste their time working on boring projects. Give them something challenging and exciting to work on. In many ways, this sometimes can be more enticing than large salaries.

8. Talk about your company online.

Talk about yourself, let people know how great your company and culture are. Create a blog and add relevant content, share across social media, do podcasts with guest speakers. Shout from the rooftops, create enough meaningful noise that people pay attention to.

9. Speak at events and network constantly. 

You can expand your people search by taking the time to speak at events and meetups. Speaking engagements are great opportunities to sell your company and culture to potential future co-workers. Also, they are really great opportunities to network, and many times they are totally free.

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