So you have decided to hire. There is only one problem, eveyone good is already employed. Why should they leave their brand name jobs to join your small (and new and risky) company.

• Ensure you are paying a fair salary. Lets face it, there is no substitute for money, everything else is a topping.
• Ensure you provide a lot of learning opportunity. This is a area where startups/small businesses can really shine over larger companies
• Provide autonomy. Larger companies have a lot of processes. Many smart people prefer the autonomy of small teams.
• Make a name for yourself in open source world. Allow your team to contribute to open source.
• Have a name for yourself in the technical community surrounding your technology.

You can plan to hire people as soon as you start, or after you have stabilized the business or not at all. It is a very personal decision depending on your finances, stability of business, lead pipeline and willingness to manage people. Remember though that to grow business at some point you need to start growing your team.

You should think about hiring if,

• You have a robust lead pipeline
• You have more work than you (or your existing team) can handle.
• You finances can cushion loss of business for four months
• You have the skills and willingness to manage people.

You should defer hiring if

• Leads (via inbound channels) don’t amount to much
• (You or)Your team is having less work than they can fill