Building A Team As An Entrepreneur

Scaling up a startup as an entrepreneur involves building the best team possible. After all, a founder may be motivated enough to do a variety of tasks for their company, but they can’t expect to grow it on their own. Hiring means entrusting a team with a founder’s vision—which can be difficult for them but also opens the door for new perspectives. Companies going lean during the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates that teams hire the best talent possible. I expect that many of the lessons learned during the pandemic will apply long after it. Any startup looking to thrive will need to actively seek out talent and engage employees in a way that keeps them on board with the company’s mission.

This new standard for employment has been around for long before COVID. More than ever, employees expect to have a say in the companies they work for and feel invested in the work they’re doing. This goes double for startups, where early-stage teams can capitalize on star employees willing to grow with the company. In these cases, companies can benefit by supporting educational efforts for their teams and welcoming the ideas they bring to the table. 

Additionally, recruitment can be challenging for a startup due to limitations in terms of salary. There’s a certain amount of risk inherent in startups, and it’s important to demonstrate the value of the company and reasons why it is worth investing time in. While hiring tools such as LinkedIn provide more prospects than ever before, passionate team members willing to get in at the very start of a company can still be hard to find.

The authoritarian business leadership that defined the late twentieth century has largely been replaced with a culture of collaboration that welcomes new ideas. Indeed, frequent changes in industry standards have made employee engagement a necessity. Veteran business leaders dedicated to standards they’ve spent decades practicing will become increasingly irrelevant.

When it comes to team building, particularly for startups, founders need to think about potential employees the same way they think about their consumer audience. What kind of talent do they want to attract? What future does the company hold for anybody willing to put their time in? And what values does the company want to embody? Building a successful startup involves finding a value proposition that sets a company apart from the competition, and hiring should be the same way. Consider what you’re offering to potential hires and seek out talent that matches your needs.

To that end, it’s imperative to build a business culture with values consistent for both employees and consumers. Describing a business as “people-oriented” means nothing if employees aren’t given a voice. It’s a symbiotic relationship; teams that trust the companies they work for will put more in. This trust can carry a team through a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, where economic uncertainty can potentially impact a team’s motivation.

This touches on another big part of teambuilding—engagement doesn’t stop at hiring. Don’t take passion for granted; stress and burnout can claim even the most dedicated employees. 

While the pandemic has affected every industry differently, it has also created opportunities for founders and leaders to reconsider the way they attract talent for their teams. If you’re looking to build or revamp your team, seek out dedicated employees without assuming that they’ll come to you. Engagement starts at hiring, but following through well past the offer letter will improve the stability and quality of your team.