It’s important to build a core team

A core team is very important part of a start-up. Think of it like extended cofounders — a team which is dedicated to the goals of the company and is working towards its betterment. You and your cofounder alone can only go so far. But if you have a team who is ready to run all the way with you, it will become so much easier to cross the high and low tides of the start-up journey. This article will help you decide the basic traits that you must find in your core team.

The most important trait is hustling. A hustler may not know how to do things, but he will leave no stone unturned to complete the task allotted to him. This is important because if the employee isn’t a hustler, he will likely be running his own agenda or working at his own speed. But if he is a hustler, he will go extra mile without you telling him. He will discover new ways, invent new possibilities and drive the car through the unchartered territories.

Another most underrated trait of an employee is  faithfulness. A great employee who quits within one month is of lesser importance than a good employee with loyalty. As your start-up grows, your core team will know all of its strengths and weaknesses. A power-hungry employee might just quit you to join a competition and tear the start-up apart. But a loyal one will fight with you side by side. Identify who all in your team are loyal to you!

While loyalty is important, competence is also necessary. A loyal team member who isn’t competent will send wrong signals to the outside world. Newer employees will be afraid of entering your firm and will quit quickly, if they find an incompetent person who has no idea what he is doing. I understand that as a start-up we might not be able to afford industry experts in different domains, but at least let’s get folks who are competent in their streams or get them trained on job so they know their stuff!

In start-ups as stated earlier, we often get team mates who are freshers or have little work experience. Then what becomes crucial is his ability and openness to learn. He might require mentorship through you or an outside mentor at times, and he must be willing for it. A core employee needs to wear multiple hats. He juggles between roles and sometimes manages many responsibilities at a time. He works for business but also manages social media and also guides supply chain and sometimes even packs and couriers the product himself. A start-up employee who is rigid about his work boundaries and is not open to multitask is a red flag when talked about multitasking.