In the 90s, the American economy witnessed the emergence of several tech-related startups, which climbed their way to success. These privately-owned businesses made their founders some of the wealthiest people in the world. Their success motivated many individuals – youngsters and professionals alike – to pursue the entrepreneurial route. Today, the United States leads the world with 63,000+ startups that have been established nationwide, with India succeeding with fewer than 10,000 organizations. However, not every startup remains profitable. As you might have heard before, 90% of startups collapse and exist for less than a year. It’s because founders don’t hire the right people to sustain their business efforts.
People your startups must hire now
Why do startups fail? From marketing problems to financial challenges, several reasons cause people’s commercial aspirations to die early. One particular obstacle faced by many startups involves poor team-building tactics. Founders neglect to employ people who bolster their entrepreneurial endeavors. If you haven’t made the right team by involving some crucial players, your startup won’t survive the ruthless market outside and won’t even be able to go through proof of concept. Hence we suggest interviewing people for the below-mentioned positions to boost your newborn company’s productivity. Consider your recruits as building blocks of your organization, without which the entire structure shall come crumbling down! So, ensure you have hired these professionals:
- Market Research Analyst
Businesses – small-sized or multinational – don’t rely upon gut feelings anymore. They all now leverage DDDM (data-driven decision-making) to make the most profitable decision about their services/products. So, we suggest startup founders employ the services of professionals well-versed in market research. So, what do market research analysts do for your company? Here, we’ll explain some essential responsibilities of these professionals that help your startup grow:
- Monitoring and predicting trends in the marketplace
- Assessing the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns
- Collecting data related to your consumers and competitors
- Transforming complex data into understandable formats, e.g., tables/graphs
- Showing their findings of marketing specialties and other company stakeholders
- CEO + COO
Don’t forget to welcome some top-level executives to your company. You must employ the services of a Chief Executive Officer and a Chief Operations Officer. They overlook the day-to-day activities of your company while managing its operations. Ensure you’ve hired leaders to handle these positions as they’ll supervise all departments to maintain your worker’s productivity. A powerful manager working under you can effectively increase the profitability of your organization.
- CMO
A Chief/Global Marketing Officer overlooks all marketing-related activities in your company. From conducting marketing research to creating promotional campaigns, this person handles all issues associated with your startup’s marketing strategies. You should hire someone who can understand brand development and customer service. Hiring this person will ensure your vision doesn’t remain unseen. It’s the CMO’s job to make your product desirable among your audiences.
- CFO
Many startups prefer to outsource accounting-related tasks. However, consider hiring a CFO right after the establishment of your organization. The Chief financial officer serves as an executive who oversees the financial activities within the company. Their responsibilities range from assessing the company’s financial strengths and weaknesses to securing funding for everyday necessities. It can help you manage different aspects of your organization’s finances from the very start of your journey.
- CTO
A modern-day startup will struggle to function without hiring a Chief Technical Officer. The person employed in this position is responsible for fulfilling the business’s tech-related needs. This person should work under a CIO (Chief Information Officer) if you care to hire one. Otherwise, they’ll directly report to the CEO. While a CTO’s duties involve resolving IT-related issues, this person can also handle the implementation and management of your company’s IT infrastructure. You do need someone to make tech-related decisions in your startup after its founding.
- Co-founder
You can Google the names of the world’s grandest multinational corporations, and they were all co-founded by more than one person. It’s true for Apple, Facebook, and Google itself; the founder requires the assistance of their comrades who serve as second-in-command to the founder. Experts suggest having two to three co-founders is enough to make your right-hand people.
- Sales Manager
Startups that have mastered sales can survive in this merciless marketplace. You should employ the services of a sales manager to generate quality leads for your business and bring in funds for the organization. You can leverage your profitability for expanding the department and hiring more salespeople. It’s not easy to find the right person for this position. However, your efforts won’t be worthless when you discover the perfect candidate to assume this significant role.
- Product Manager
This person will handle all product-related matters in your company. A product manager works with your marketing and engineering teams to align the products with your company’s vision and customers’ needs. Since founders serve as their organizations’ makeshift product managers, it’s sometimes difficult to find an excellent replacement. Once you’ve discovered a worthy candidate, you can focus on high-level company problems.
- Business Development Manager
A Business Development Manager guarantees the security of your business. Their duties also include identifying new markets and enhancing customer satisfaction. They will consider expansion opportunities to help your business become more profitable. You need their services to outperform the competition out there. A company utilizes the expertise of BDMs to attract attention to the services and products they’re offering.
- Customer Services Representative
You can’t ignore hiring someone well-versed in public dealing capable of building rapport with your customers. A customer services representative establishes positive relationships with people to attract more would-be consumers. This person must have impeccable communication skills and should be able to handle people’s queries tactfully. You can’t let your reputation suffer from the lack of a person proficient in dealing with customers’ complaints. So, remember to find the right talent for this job!
Conclusion
Contrary to mainstream misconceptions, several startup founders possess a bachelor’s degree, and most privately-owned businesses aren’t immediately successful. Statistics show that merely 2 in 5 startups are profitable. But what do founders do that leads to the collapse of their companies? We consulted experts and realized that poor team-building strategies caused the decline of many companies. They neglect to hire crucial workers in their organizations, such as CFOs, writers, salespeople, product managers, and business administrators. Also, they don’t employ financial and technology officers to improve these two aspects of their businesses. We suggest hiring the above-mentioned roles to bring some productivity into your startup.