Starting a company: what's hardest? Some say co-founders. Legal creation and governmental rules may annoy others. Others claim it's raising seed capital. Hiring outstanding people. Startups face financial, legal, and technological risks. However, hiring the wrong individuals or too few of the appropriate ones will slow your firm down. 1. Find good people When you're starting out in a garage or small office, it's hard to locate outstanding employees. This is especially true if you don't have a firm name or an entrepreneurial track record. Bad hires are worse than no hires. Someone who doesn't support your goals or share your vision will waste time and effort that you could be using to expand your company. Get referrals from friends and coworkers to hire the right people. This helps locate the ideal people who will share your vision and stay motivated. 2. Pay top talent well. To recruit, you may cut salaries and other benefits. Bootstrappers may have made this enormous error! Hiring the incorrect individual wastes time and money. Budget for good pay and perks to cover this extra cost. Remember that employing the wrong person costs significantly more than spending a little more on the right one. Have a budget with a good salary, benefits, and overhead, but be prepared to pay the proper people. 3. Be patient When hiring, aim to impress prospects during onboarding. Your initial hires will take months to get started. Giving new hires adequate time to learn and contribute is an investment in your company's future. Give your first hires a few months to settle in and make an impact. 4. Know what you need and who you want to hire. Consider each role's talents and mindset while creating your hiring plan. Before hiring prospects, list what you anticipate from them daily. Don't assume all graphic designers and software engineers are alike. Be sure to detail these professions' tactical tasks. 5. Be upfront about hiring. Transparency builds candidate trust and rapport. Be explicit about what you want, the company's culture, and the hiring process. Be clear about your skill requirements. Give applicants corporate details so they can imagine working for you. To avoid questions from potential hires, explain the hiring process. 6. Organize now. It's nice to hire someone new, but keep going. Your new hire's role, tasks, and five-month expectations should be clear. Explain their function and your future expectations. 7. Prioritize cultural fit over technical skills. Good workers should fit your company culture. If not, they're wrong! If you can't accommodate them in your corporate culture, don't hire someone brilliant or with the technical abilities you need. If someone doesn't fit in, it'll be obvious, and you'll have to correct it. Match your company's culture to the one you're hiring for. This will help the new hire feel like a teammate rather than an outsider. 8. Hire risk-takers. Creating a successful firm requires risk-taking. Hire people who aren't scared to get their hands dirty and try something new. You need problem-solvers, not cowards. If they don't take risks, their performance will decline, and you'll have to fire them. For your company's future, select a risk-taker who isn't scared to act. 9. Don't hire someone for their posh school. If you're going to offer a job to a Harvard graduate who doesn't have the talents you need, don't. It's hard to tell from a resume. You're better off hiring a less qualified person who can deliver than a highly qualified person who can't. Many hire based on education. An outstanding degree may impress the interviewer, but it may not transfer to job abilities. Follow these tips to discover the appropriate employee for your organization while saving time and money. Take time to locate employees that fit your startup culture if you want to develop a long-term team.