When to Hire Key Employees for Bootstrapped Remote Teams

This blog has been originally published on the Remote First Recruiting site

As the founder of a bootstrapped remote startup, you already know that hiring key employees is essential for growth and your sanity. From working with 300+ founders across the world, and helping them hire key employees in Latin America, Europe, Asia and North America, we’ve found two critical factors often dictate the timing of hiring key employees: revenue milestones and capacity constraints.

Revenue Milestones

Money matters. Hitting revenue milestones is a significant indicator of readiness to expand your remote team. Once your startup achieves consistent revenue streams and demonstrates sustainable growth, it signals stability and provides the financial foundation to support new hires. Look for key revenue milestones, such as surpassing $100K in annual recurring revenue (ARR) or achieving profitability, as benchmarks for considering building out your team. Also consider hiring offshore, in places like Latin America or Europe to help with these financial restraints. Latin America is the hub for remote hiring right now and it’s a no brainer for bootstrapped founders who are looking to add hard working, remote, employees to their team.  

Capacity Constraints

Remote founders often wear multiple hats, juggling various responsibilities to keep their startups running smoothly. However, when capacity constraints start impeding strategic growth initiatives, it's a clear sign that it's time to hire key employees. Tasks or projects consistently delayed or neglected due to limited bandwidth are prime candidates for delegation to new team members.

The First 5 Hires for Remote Teams

1.  Virtual Assistant: As the workload increases, hiring a virtual assistant can help founders offload administrative tasks, scheduling, and other routine activities, allowing them to focus on strategic priorities. 

Tip: Hire them in the same timezone (+/- 3 hours) for more streamlined teamwork, as they’ll become your right hand. 

2. Customer Support Specialist: Providing excellent customer support is crucial for remote startups. Hiring a customer support specialist ensures timely response to customer inquiries and enhances overall customer satisfaction.

3. Marketing Specialist: With revenue milestones indicating growth, investing in marketing becomes essential. A marketing specialist can develop and execute effective strategies to increase brand visibility, generate leads, and drive sales.

Tip: This can also be a niche hire, if you know there’s 1 critical area you’d like to see growth in. IE: Paid Ads, Email Marketing, Copywriting.

4. Product Developer/Designer: If your remote startup revolves around a digital product or service, hiring a product developer or designer is critical. They can enhance product functionality, user experience, and overall competitiveness in the market.

5. Sales Development Representative: As revenue continues to grow, hiring a sales development representative (SDR) can accelerate business development efforts. They can identify and pursue new opportunities, nurture leads, and close deals, driving further revenue growth for the startup. SDR’s are a great addition to a startup team, we’ve got a ton of information on them in our free SDR Hiring Guide.

Each of these hires represents a strategic investment in each company's future success. 

By partnering with Remote First Recruiting, you gain access to a diverse talent pool and a dedicated team committed to helping you build a high-performing remote team. We typically help founders hire in 30 days or less.

Ready to make your next hire? Let's connect and explore how we can help you achieve your hiring goals.

-Krista and the RFR Team ✌️