The Importance of Flexible Teams

Throughout my journey of building and owning a startup, I’ve learned each day can be filled with challenges and opportunities. One critical element that can make or break your venture is your team. These are the people you’ve assembled to bring your goals to life and help your startup advance. That being said, you need to ensure there’s flexibility, allowing your business (and flexible team) to endure through challenging seasons. 

A flexible team isn't just a nice-to-have; it's a necessity. Here's why:

Flexibility in Cost, Skillsets, and Solutions

A flexible team means you can adapt quickly to the ever-changing landscape of your startup. This flexibility translates to three key areas: costs, skill sets, and solutions.

Flexible Costs

Long-term hires come with substantial risks. Fixed costs can be a burden, especially if the market shifts or your business model needs to pivot. We've all seen the headlines about layoffs in recent years—companies shed long-term employees to cut fixed costs they couldn't sustain. This type of team allows you to scale costs with your revenue, avoiding the trap of high operating leverage.

Flexible Skillsets

The right skills at the right time can make all the difference. With a flexible team, you can bring in specialists as needed—whether it's a designer for a few months, a back-end engineer to build your product, or a product designer to ensure user experience scalability. This approach maximizes your budget and ensures you're always moving forward with the right set of experts.

Flexible Solutions

A fixed team can limit your ability to find the best solutions. Flexibility means more options, allowing you to provide the right solutions at the right time. It also spreads institutional knowledge, reducing the risk of any one person holding all the cards, therefore limiting your product’s advancement.

Benefits of a Flexible Startup Team

Building your startup team with flexibility in mind can save you money, energy, and momentum. The wrong hire can be costly, but with a flexible approach, you can mitigate this risk by partnering with experts to meet your needs as they arise.

Imagine needing a designer for a few months, then having the ability to switch the budget to a back-end engineer. Or the option to bring in a front-end developer to connect beautiful designs to the back-end infrastructure, followed by an infrastructure engineer to ensure your application scales seamlessly. This strategic use of resources ensures you're always optimizing your team’s budget for the task at hand.

Additionally, spreading institutional knowledge through a flexible team ensures business continuity. By leveraging expert partners, like Midwestern, you can alleviate the risk of your product being held hostage by any single individual's knowledge or skill set.

Key Insights for Startup Founders

Build Wisely

The success of your startup hinges on your ability to create a product that meets market needs. Assemble your team with people who have a proven track record of doing just that.

Focus on Flexibility

Strong teams don't necessarily require full-time hires. While vanity metrics and headcount might be enticing, extending your runway and optimizing investor funds is crucial for reaching the next funding round.

Minimize Overhead

Full-time hires come with significant overhead—machines, insurance, benefits, and liability. Early in your startup journey, lean on larger entities to shoulder these costs, allowing you to focus on growth.

When Should You Scale Your Team?

Knowing when to scale your team is vital. At Midwestern, we believe in a balanced approach: a ⅓ embedded team (flexible) and ⅔ long-term team. This model works best once you have a marketable product and steady sales. At this point, it makes sense to shift from a fully embedded team and begin recruiting full-time members to fit into a sustainable ⅓-⅔ structure.

Before scaling, ensure you have clear goals and financial stability. Bringing on full-time team members without this foundation is risky for both your business and the new hires. Be a good steward of your investors' money, your business, and your team.

Signs You Need To Restructure

A high-functioning product and delivery team should excel in three areas: quality of work, speed of delivery, and transparent communication. If your team isn't hitting high marks in these areas, it might be time for a change.

If you're frustrated with your product's progress and hearing excuses for failed initiatives, you likely have a team problem. Bringing in a third party can provide a necessary sanity check.

Even strong internal teams can face pressure from stakeholder demands. In these cases, consider using external resources for short-term projects to alleviate pressure and boost delivery.

Options with Midwestern

At Midwestern, we offer a range of services to help you build and scale your team effectively:

Scoped

We support projects with shorter timelines and smaller budgets focused on quick innovation and fast-to-market launches.

Embedded

Our staff augmentation services connect you with our flexible, top-tier talent that seamlessly integrates into your team and helps you meet your product’s goals. 

Recruiting

We efficiently recruit skilled candidates and place them into permanent roles within your company, focusing on long-term matches. 

Building a startup is an incredible journey. By prioritizing flexibility, you can navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities that come your way. Let's build something great together.