If you’ve held the reins of your business since what seems like forever, it will be a challenge for you to bring new people to your company. You not only will have to share the workspace for ideas and authority but also adjust your work schedule according to the needs and demands of the employees. But just as daunting as it seems, hiring employees to grow your company is a very crucial task that should be put into action sooner than most entrepreneurs actually do.

To find someone who shares the core principles as you, and believes in the business plan and has a thirst to work hard and learn is very important in the first few set of people you hire when you’re starting out. Fortunately, there are some proven ways that will help you find the employee of your dreams for your startup.

1- Don’t look for the ‘cheapest’ or ‘quickest’ hire
Look at Google, Deloitte or any superpower other today, their first few hires have stuck to them and are important pillars on which the empire rests. Start finding out talent early on so you don’t have to compromise with what’s available at the last moment. Also, don’t be hesitant to talk clean about what you’re able to pay at this moment to the best person in the lot. If he values ownership and equity more than salary (that’s the kind you want) then you will be able to bring him in even at a low salary.

2- Use a recruiter’s help
Getting your first hire wrong can be a terrible blow to your self-esteem and also deplete your time and money reserves. It’s a much better (and safe) idea to use a recruitment consultant’s help as these people typically use psychological and data driven tests to check candidates. Their expertise in dealing with human resource is what makes them bankable.

3- Don’t just go for ‘fast learners’
It’s always a good strategy to hire people who are competitive, sincere and adaptable so you can teach them new skills and make them help you with a variety of errands. But that said, every hire you make should have mastered a skill that you are short of. He should have the experience of working in the situation that you want him to work, otherwise , ou’ve just used a good portion of your startup’s already minimal funds for doing work you were already capable of doing. That translates to zero growth.

Related Readings;

• Recruitly for hiring apprentices
• Profhire for universities to hire industry professionals as visiting faculty
• Hiring student interns through HireOwl

As a last tip, extend the probation period for longer and remember to keep a list of must-have skills in your hand while you set out to find employees for your company. It’s never too late to tell a person that he isn’t boding well in the company than get frustrated and risk your business’s’ growth in dealing with the person.