Tips for Building the Perfect Entrepreneurial Team
Entrepreneurs often start solo, whether it’s in their parent’s basement or garage. But over time, as their business idea gains some traction and becomes a living, breathing life form, they get barraged with a variety of tasks and responsibilities that simply cannot be tackled by one person. As a result, entrepreneurs often have to transition from their solo act to a business team.
What Positions Do You Need To Fill?
Before posting online, make sure you know what job position you need to fill. Assess your own core competencies to determine what is lacking. If you are more of an inventor rather than a businessman, you may need someone with the expertise to run an actual business and vice versa. As the CEO, you must have a clear and solid vision of who should be in your team. Avoid accepting just any resume that does not meet your requirements. Stay focused on the talent pool and skill set you need for the business.
Do You Enjoy Working With Them?
Of course, a 4-year degree is something you’ll love to see from someone you are considering of hiring. But do you feel any connection with them? Is their personality complimentary to yours? Can they get along with other team members and not cause drama? The perfect entrepreneurial team must get along well with each other to successfully overcome any business obstacle that comes their way.
Background Checks
This may sound a bit paranoid, but doing background checks ensures that your team members are all physically and mentally fit to work with you for the long haul. Say you’ve just started to work with someone, but soon you discover he’s a fugitive when FBI detectives start knocking on your company’s headquarters. Not only is this a scandal that can greatly affect your startup’s integrity, but may also delay the project you’ve started since the skill set’s been taken away into custody.
Try Not To Saturate Your Team With One Skill Set
For example, avoid putting too many programmers or software developers into your team. Diversify your talent pool and only add as needed. Startups can thrive even with 4 to 5 people running it. The quantity doesn’t matter as much as the quality does. While having fewer team members means more work, it does free up some of the business’ budget.
Having the perfect entrepreneurial team can catapult any startup or small business into an empire in just a few years. As a leader, you benefit from the diversified talent you can access anytime.
Jonah Engler is an entrepreneur who works in NYC.