5 Key Considerations When Hiring Your First Employee for Your Start-Up | GBAF

5 Key Considerations When Hiring Your First Employee for Your Start-Up | GBAF

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Home > Business > Hiring your First Employee, What Every Start-up Should Consider

Hiring your First Employee, What Every Start-up Should Consider

Published by Gbaf News

Posted on January 3, 2019

3 min read

Last updated: January 21, 2026

Start-up founder interviewing a candidate for the first employee position - Global Banking & Finance Review — A start-up founder conducts an interview, emphasizing key considerations for hiring the first employee. This image illustrates the importance of defining roles and a fair hiring process in the start-up ecosystem.

Getting the first employee onboard and integrated into the organization can be long drawn out process but it’s absolutely necessary if your start-up wants to expand. After watching many start-ups implement a hiring process over the years and struggle through various pitfalls, we’ve put together a list of things you should consider when looking for your first employee.

Find Out If You Have Money to Pay Them

Hiring your first employee in a start-up means you first of all need to have money to pay them. Additionally money is going to be among the terms of employment discussed with a potential employee. So you should check if your business will be able to support them for several years, as you can’t hire and lay off an employee within a few months. Startups often do not have enough of money to pay for employee benefits in addition to salary. In this case you should consider offering them equity in the company.

Define the Role of the Employee

Even though you have a lot of different tasks that can be assigned to the employee you are hiring, you should clearly define their role. You should also be able to demonstrate the type of growth opportunities within your company. When defining the role you should also ensure that the employee is open to their tasks being added to as your company grows, but you also need to assure them that they will not be over burdened.

Design a Hiring process

As you are looking to hire your first employee you should also outline the hiring procedure and how you will bring them onboard. As part of the hiring process you should also frame the questions potential candidates should be asked during the interview. When preparing such questions you should ensure that you do not ask them about their age, religion and other details which are prohibited by laws.

Look for the Right Candidate for the Role

It is important that your hiring process be fair from the start, and so you should concentrate on getting the right candidate for the job. Even if your friends or customers recommend a certain person for the role, ensure that they can do the tasks that you have outlined for them and have the necessary skills. Your first employee also needs to work alongside you, so you should be able to get along with them, and while this is not a major factor you should take it into consideration. If the employee also shares your vision for the company and is passionate about what they are doing, it is just icing on the cake. As they will put in their best everyday and make every effort to ensure the products and services being offered are a success.

Check References and Test for Illegal Substances

When hiring it is normal that checks be carried out to ensure that references are valid and employment records are accurate. Additionally many employers check for the use of illegal substances, and so if you want to reduce work place accidents ensure that potential employees pass these tests.

As you hire your first employee you will find that you can create a hiring process that is ideal for your company and test it out. With the first employee hired you will also be able to change the process and fix errors and missteps before you hire another person.