You’re fundraising. It’s all you can think about. You need the cash to get your business where it needs to be, but there are many hurdles to jump through to get it.  

Your hiring plan probably isn’t front of mind.  

However, once that cash lands, you’ll likely want to hire. And fast. But bringing the wrong person on board at an early stage could be catastrophic.   

Addressing your hiring plans early will make all the difference when you’re ready to recruit. Here’s 3 simple things you should do before you close your funding round.  

1. Create an organisational chart  

The best place to begin your talent planning is by creating an organisational chart. It sounds simple, because it is. Mapping out your people needs over the next 12-18 months will give you clarity on what you need and when.  

Designing an org chart is also a great way to recognise where your gaps are, and specific roles you need now, vs the roles you hope to fill in future. You’ll also gain visibility on cost, and how you might need to be flexible to fill those gaps in the most cost-effective way (permanent employees aren’t your only option)! 

One startup we worked with wanted to hire an in-house technical team. They quickly worked out that a team of four was too costly, so they cut that team in half, and supplemented it with fractional CTO.  

Getting your organisational chart together early will mean more clarity, quicker hiring, and (often) at a lower cost.  

2. Benchmark your reward strategy 

You’ve mapped out your org chart, and you’re clear on the roles you’re going to hire for. 

But how on earth will you get these people bought into your business? 

The best place to start is to do your research and understand the benefits that are valued in the startup world. In your previous corporate role, you may have had a 15% pension which was important to you, but if this isn’t something your startup employees would value, you need to rethink. Maybe it’s equity. Maybe it’s unlimited holiday. Maybe it’s something else. It’s not a one size fits all approach, but doing your research and looking into alternatives such as wellbeing platforms like Heka or MoreHappi may be preferred by prospective candidates.  

When you’re assessing your reward strategy, don’t forget to think about salaries. As a startup you might not be offering a top of the range salary. But if that’s the case, you do need to be offering something at least in line with market rate, plus think about what else you can offer to make up for it. While you’re thinking about salaries for prospective talent, take the opportunity to evaluate those of your current team. After all, the last thing you want to do is lose any of your core people because you’re not rewarding them right!  

3. Spend time on your employer brand 

Your employer brand is arguably the most important part of attracting the right talent.  

Gone are the days where candidates walk into jobs with little idea about the company or what they stand for. Now, you have nowhere to hide. Candidates can learn everything they need about your business before they even speak to you. This is why having a strong employer brand is so important.  

Start off by defining your mission, vision and values and come up with ways to convey what makes your startup special. You could create a video of your team speaking about what makes the business great or share pictures from your latest team day; anything that positively depicts your company culture contributes to building a great employer brand.  

One of our clients who fight organised, environmental, and financial crime created an excellent example of employer brand-focused content in which they filmed their employees talking about how their day-to-day activities contribute to preventing crime. This is a prime example of how you can attract talent by using a strong story.  

Having your employer brand perfected before you’ve closed your funding means you’ll hit the ground running. 

Get in touch

There’s a lot to juggle in the fundraising process, and we get that hiring may not be at the top of your agenda.  

But believe us when we say we’ve seen founders succeed and fail based on the time they spent on talent planning before closing a funding round.  

If you want some advice on anything you’ve read here, or would like general support on how to get ahead of the game when it comes to hiring, get in touch with our Co-founder and CEO, Alan HERE.