This discussion is a challenge. You must make some serious choices here.

Why?

Remember that start-ups do not have lots of resources ($$) and can only fund very few positions to accomplish what is required. Therefore, you will most likely have to step in and take care of a lot more than you ever imagined.

The three core functions of a business are:

• product/service design(designing products or services that clients need or want);
• marketing/sales(getting the word out so clients know about the product/service and arousing the need in them to buy, and closing sales -- promise of $$),
• and operations(producing and delivering products and services -- actual $$).

Without these functions something very essential will be missing from your company.

Think about the organization of your start-up (this relates to the organizational structure of your business development project). Then outline the following:

Question 1: What type of business will you start?

Question 2: What departments/functions are a must in your start-up?

Question 3: Most important item in this discussion: which positions in these departments will you fund?

Think of the positions that you can pay for when you get started. You will not be able to pay for positions you envision to have once the business makes it and matures.

Examples of positions to fund are:seller, production/service worker, customer service representative, product or service delivery person. Again, the core areas of business are marketing/sales, product design, and production. If you will do social media, remember that it takes lots and lots of time. Therefore, you will have to concentrate on only one outlet, for instance instagram, rather than all of them or you may not have time for anything else in which case you will be out of business very fast.

Example for an online retail store start-up:

Question 1:

An online retail store.

Question 2:

Departments/functions: marketing, sales, buying/merchandising, shipping, customer service, social media, accounting, legal, and human resources.

Question 3:

You are just starting and you only have limited funding. So you will personally undertake buying/merchandising, hiring (human resources) and accounting. Legal will be contracted out on a limited basis. You will hire:

• One marketing specialist who will do marketing, sales, and social media;
• Two customer service reps (talk to the clients if needed, and take orders); and
• One shipper; this shipper will also follow up to make sure that payments are received (accounts receivable).

This is a total of 4 people and yourself. You will also serve as the CEO. That is actually more than plenty!!

I hope this gives you a good blueprint of how to think here.