Startups usually begin with only one or a few more employees. Perfectionists don’t mind handling the lion’s share of work; they want to be in control of every process that goes down. As the founder of the business, it’s certain that you understand its concept, products, and goals better than anyone else. However, at some point along with the growth of your business, you will need to start relinquishing some control over to others to help your business thrive. Hiring professionals will add more knowledge and experience to your company. Although this might mean taking on more costs, it’s still a great chance to grow from just a startup to an established small business. If you are wondering about the priority hires that you should start with, here are some of them.
Accountant
Accounting is the last thing you should be burdened yourself with. Handling finances is a core factor in any company’s success. This is why this position should be left to professionals who understand all the ins and outs. Without this information, you might be making one of the costliest mistakes that many small business owners fall into. If you want to make the best out of this step, you can let your accountant prepare data and financial reports in addition to handling audits. These reports could be used by different teams such as the sales and marketing teams for better handling of their work.
Marketing Guru
Regardless of your business type or size, hiring a marketing team of specialists and generalists is essential. Your marketing plan can make or break your business; this is why working out a bullet-proof marketing plan should be left to experts who understand different marketing strategies and techniques. Investing money in a marketing expert will pay its worth in double or even in triples. Marketing gurus focus their efforts into expanding your reach by piquing the interest of potential customers. This will eventually translate to increased profit. For startups and small businesses, it’s not a necessity to hire an entire marketing team of generalists and specialists. What’s more important is to make sure that your candidate has all essential marketing skills from creating content, managing social media different platforms, experience in web designing and SEO rules, public relations skills, to Email marketing.
Customer Service Representative
Many small business owners focus all their efforts and money on gaining new customers to be able to expand their company and take it to the next level. This drive is healthy until it affects your business negatively. This motivation might distract you from focusing on your existing customers. Once your customers feel neglected and unappreciated, they will take their business elsewhere. Customers are quick to give bad reviews rather than positive ones. Ensuring the loyalty of your customers is just as important as reaching new ones to eliminate negative word of mouth. This is why you shouldn’t skimp on customer service to handle different customers’ queries and complaints efficiently to keep your customers happy and satisfied. Properly trained customer service agents can make a difference in how your customers perceive your brand.
Human Resources Professional
At the beginning of your business growth, you won’t need to hire an HR manager as it doesn’t make sense to hire someone for handling a 4-person company. However, as your business begins to expand, this division becomes a more pressing need to run all internal affairs smoothly. As you start hiring more employees, you will start struggling with the hiring and managing processes. A human resource manager should be adept at running these processes without an issue. It’s important to note that HR personnel will provide you with essential information regarding a lot of legal fields that you should be aware of.
IT Technician
The world’s incredible dependence on the digital world is forcing the market to adapt to its pace. Startups are known to be businesses that rely on the internet to create the buzz they need to push them forward. If your business includes servers, websites, or any form of tech that requires constant maintenance and management, one or more IT technicians are necessary for it to survive. While they may not have a hand in business decisions, they can provide you with enough information that can help you make informed ones. The ITIL accreditation is a prerequisite for individuals who need to comprehend ITIL systems’ ideas and improve its nature of Service Management. The ITIL® V4 Foundation Certification training is beneficial for IT experts who can procure up to 40-percent more than their non-guaranteed peers.
You might be a jack of all trades, but you can’t be a master of all. When your business is still an idea, it’s fine to switch between different tasks such as handling finances or putting a detailed marketing plan. However, at some point in your entrepreneurial journey, it becomes a necessity to start hiring professionals to allot business’ responsibilities among them in order to be able to grow and prosper.
