5 essential characteristics that startup managers should have
- Transfer
In one of my past articles, I already wrote about the key success factors of any startup, as well as how important it is to have a reliable business plan and model. I would like to add that it is even more important for the startup creator to have a close-knit team for the implementation of the plan. Below are five main characteristics that you need to pay attention to when selecting candidates to work in your team.
# 1 Essential Skills
Perhaps you think that in order to hire a marketing director, just find a candidate with excellent marketing skills. However, it is worth remembering that different marketing tools (for example, digital means of communication, print, television, mailing lists) require the implementation of various tactics; that different industries require different experiences (compare, for example, companies selling products online, with companies working with catalogs); that the skills needed to work in B2C are different from the skills needed to work in B2B (for example, in one case marketing skills are required, and in the other, sales skills). Therefore, before hiring a person, you need to make sure that you find someone who perfectly understands the specifics of your industry, and who managed to develop a business,
# 2 Previous experience
Let's look at the same example with the marketing director. Believe me, you should not take a leader from a Proctor & Gamble company with a billion dollar budget into a startup startup with a million dollar budget. Such an employee may know how to create and promote large brands, working in a large team, with huge budgets. But he does not have the slightest idea about how to roll up his sleeves, with limited resources, and put a small business on its feet, resorting to completely new methods of promotion (for example, promoting a company on social networks, using mobile applications, search engine optimization) . Therefore, an undoubted advantage of your new marketing director will be experience in another startup. In your case, you need a person who knows
# 3 Suitable environment
Everyone knows that any startup is a job 24 hours 7 days a week. And this means that you have to spend a lot of time with your colleagues. Therefore, it is important that members of the same team can form a suitable environment. After all, if you need to work until late, you will least like it if someone starts to get on your nerves. The situation will be even worse if there is an outcast in your circle that nobody wants to work with. If you want a start-up business to become successful, you must understand that you simply will not have time to solve such problems.
# 4 Like-minded
It is important that each team member shares your vision of what you are trying to create. Say, for example, you want to design a car. In principle, the general concept is understandable. But if you start going into details, it is very important that the whole team understands that you are creating a family minivan, not a crossover; pickup, not a premium sedan. After all, each of the machines is focused on different consumer markets, it will require different costs for the creation and implementation of different marketing tactics.
# 5 Passion and total dedication
It is imperative that all those involved in the work share your passion for the product being created, and with full dedication move slowly towards your market. After all, we are not talking about self-employed from 9 am to 5 pm. It's about the passion that you live and breathe every minute. Returning to the example of the marketing director, I would like to note that a person who came to you from a profitable position, managed a huge army of subordinates, used the services of personal secretaries, turned huge budgets, is likely to encounter great difficulties. After all, he will have to work in the field, so to speak, dig the earth with his nose and spend much more time on work.
As I said earlier, I would rather work with a high-class team on a good idea than with a good team on a high-class idea. I hope my advice will help you create your high-class team. As Bo Shembekler, an experienced football coach from Michigan, said: “Team, team, and again the team!” It is she who will help you win the champion title.
# 1 Essential Skills
Perhaps you think that in order to hire a marketing director, just find a candidate with excellent marketing skills. However, it is worth remembering that different marketing tools (for example, digital means of communication, print, television, mailing lists) require the implementation of various tactics; that different industries require different experiences (compare, for example, companies selling products online, with companies working with catalogs); that the skills needed to work in B2C are different from the skills needed to work in B2B (for example, in one case marketing skills are required, and in the other, sales skills). Therefore, before hiring a person, you need to make sure that you find someone who perfectly understands the specifics of your industry, and who managed to develop a business,
# 2 Previous experience
Let's look at the same example with the marketing director. Believe me, you should not take a leader from a Proctor & Gamble company with a billion dollar budget into a startup startup with a million dollar budget. Such an employee may know how to create and promote large brands, working in a large team, with huge budgets. But he does not have the slightest idea about how to roll up his sleeves, with limited resources, and put a small business on its feet, resorting to completely new methods of promotion (for example, promoting a company on social networks, using mobile applications, search engine optimization) . Therefore, an undoubted advantage of your new marketing director will be experience in another startup. In your case, you need a person who knows
# 3 Suitable environment
Everyone knows that any startup is a job 24 hours 7 days a week. And this means that you have to spend a lot of time with your colleagues. Therefore, it is important that members of the same team can form a suitable environment. After all, if you need to work until late, you will least like it if someone starts to get on your nerves. The situation will be even worse if there is an outcast in your circle that nobody wants to work with. If you want a start-up business to become successful, you must understand that you simply will not have time to solve such problems.
# 4 Like-minded
It is important that each team member shares your vision of what you are trying to create. Say, for example, you want to design a car. In principle, the general concept is understandable. But if you start going into details, it is very important that the whole team understands that you are creating a family minivan, not a crossover; pickup, not a premium sedan. After all, each of the machines is focused on different consumer markets, it will require different costs for the creation and implementation of different marketing tactics.
# 5 Passion and total dedication
It is imperative that all those involved in the work share your passion for the product being created, and with full dedication move slowly towards your market. After all, we are not talking about self-employed from 9 am to 5 pm. It's about the passion that you live and breathe every minute. Returning to the example of the marketing director, I would like to note that a person who came to you from a profitable position, managed a huge army of subordinates, used the services of personal secretaries, turned huge budgets, is likely to encounter great difficulties. After all, he will have to work in the field, so to speak, dig the earth with his nose and spend much more time on work.
As I said earlier, I would rather work with a high-class team on a good idea than with a good team on a high-class idea. I hope my advice will help you create your high-class team. As Bo Shembekler, an experienced football coach from Michigan, said: “Team, team, and again the team!” It is she who will help you win the champion title.