Persuading people to join your start-up can be difficult — but this guide has your back. By following the tips and tricks provided below, you’ll be able to excite candidates with your vision and get them onboard.
Millions of new start-ups are created every single year.
In the US alone, 2022 saw 5,044,748 businesses come to life, from web design agencies to fitness studios (US Census Bureau).
This is great for the economy but naturally means high competition levels. For example, if you create a start-up in an intensely competitive industry, you must fight hard to get people to join you. However, it’s not impossible; every business has to start somewhere. Even during the early days of Apple, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak had to persuade people to join their company (which is one of the world’s biggest brands almost 50 years later).
So, to start getting candidates to put pen to paper, here are some tips and tricks you should follow.
1. Send Professional Offer Letters
Offer letters are a big deal. In many cases, they’ll be the deciding factor behind whether a candidate decides to join your company or not, which is why you have to get them right.
If you want to offer a candidate the job after interviewing them, don’t simply call them in a casual “take it or leave it” sort of way. Instead, you should use HR software to send a professional offer letter at the click of a button. Upon receiving the letter, the candidate can read your message and click a link to accept the offer online.
Also, you must not leave candidates waiting too long. For example, if you conduct an interview and only send the offer letter 3 or 4 weeks later, the candidate will likely have found another job by then or simply lost interest. As a start-up manager, you need to be proactive!
2. Show Them Your Business Plan
When people are in talks to join a start-up, they want to see the long-term vision. After all, nobody wants to join a start-up with zero ambition. Knowing this, you need to show candidates your business plan and include all the relevant details, from how you plan to scale up to your sales goals. Make sure that candidates also understand their role in all of this; the key here is to make them feel important.
3. Provide Incentives
Next, provide lots of incentives.
From paid holidays to opportunities for promotions, you get the idea of what’s necessary here. Essentially, you should make it clear to candidates that (because they’ve taken a risk on your start-up) you’ll reward them in the long-term for it.
4. Have a Great Office
The workplace itself will also be a huge deciding factor. As a result, you need to have a great office.
Ideally, your office should be located somewhere easy to access, such as in the middle of a big city. If you’re on the outskirts or in the middle of nowhere, then people will be much less likely to join you due to commuting headaches.
Location, location, location — it’s incredibly important.
Final Thoughts
Over the coming years, you’ll be able to get plenty of new hires through the door if you follow the tips and tricks you’ve just browsed through. Good luck and enjoy building an amazing team.
