Startups

10 of the Best Practices For Building A Great Team

Published

10 years ago

Jun 9, 2016

When looking to build a team for your department, business or startup, your goal is to try and assemble and grow the strongest team you can.

Most great leaders and entrepreneurs are only able to do what they do because of the people they hire. It’s the reason Google, Apple and Facebook are constantly battling to attract the best hires – a good team makes a difference.

Here are 10 best practices for building and maintaining a great team:

1. Hire great people

Don’t hire the people that you think will listen the best, or won’t cause trouble – hire those that will be creative and push the limits. Your team will only be as ambitious as the people you put on it. Hire people smarter than you. Don’t be afraid of those people, make them part of your team.

2. Trust the team

You have to trust that you’ve hired the right people, and let them do their jobs. Don’t micromanage and constantly stand over their shoulder. It annoys the employee, and you have better things to do. Trust the team to do the job. Be there to support them and only check in from time to time.

3. Nurture talent

If you have talented people on your team, let them be talented. Nurture them. Help them grow. Let them be outside the box part of the time. It’s part of the reason for the Google 20 rule. Google allows employees to spend 20% of their time working on whatever it is they think will benefit the company most – no matter how farfetched it is. Nurture your team’s talent and it will benefit the business.

“In most cases being a good boss means hiring talented people and then getting out of their way.” – Mary Kay Ash

4. Value all ideas

Listen to everyone on the team. Include them in brainstorming processes and make sure you value all contributions. Encourage them to share and feel like they’re helping to build the company. When you value all ideas, you’ll find the team is much stronger.

5. Lead by example

Leading by example will help set the standard for the team. It pushes team members to better themselves, to meet your standard. It also shows them you’re not just leading the team, but that you’re part of the team. You’re helping move things forward. By setting the work ethic of the team yourself, you’re able to show the team what it takes on a day-to-day basis.

6. Teambuilding exercises

Teambuilding exercises have been around since the dawn of teams. They work. They help teams become more comfortable outside the work environment, so they can be more comfortable inside the work environment. When a team knows each other, understands each other, and communicates better, the team will function more as one unit, than several individuals.

7. Non-work communication

Recent studies have shown that teams do better when they’re allowed to have non-work related communication. This plays into the idea that as teams get more comfortable, and get to know each other better, there’s less friction as they understand where they’re coming from. Don’t shut down non-work talk. It can be mini team building that happens every day.

8. Create a diverse team

Hiring a diverse team makes for a stronger team. Don’t think that everyone on the team should have things in common or be cut from the same cloth. Diverse teams tend to do better. It brings different perspectives, ideas and solutions together that can really help make team really strong.

9. Trust the resume

When looking for new team members, trust the resume. If you can spot mistakes, that’s a bad sign. Mistakes are really easy prevent with so many articles that have resume tips for first time writers. A poorly designed or written resume is a sign they’ll make the same mistakes on the team. The resume should be the best they have to offer. If there are problems with it, expect problems when you hire them.

“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” – Steve Jobs

10. Show appreciation

Let the team know when they are performing well. Let them know they’re valuable. You’ll find a little appreciation can go a long way. Celebrate the little victories every day that team members think you don’t notice. This will go a long way to growing trust and making members feel like they’re a vital part of the team.

Hiring and nurturing teams isn’t always easy, but following the above practices will help you avoid costly mistakes. Don’t be afraid to tweak things as you go along. The worst thing you can do is double down on poor decisions. Hire a good team, treat them well, and you’ll be on your way.

Which practice do you think is the most important to building a great team? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below!

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Elaina Meiser

Elaina Meiser is a graduate student and an enthusiastic blogger. She started blogging 5+ years ago as a hobby and now her writing experience includes articles at ResumesCentre. Elaina loves creative arts, different tips & tricks guides, excursion and backpacking trips. You can follow her on Twitter @ElainaMeiser.

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Startups

How an LLC Can Help Shield Your Personal Assets

Published

2 weeks ago

Aug 1, 2026

Addicted2Success Editor

Image Credit: Addicted2success

You are a freelance designer, and your client sued you over a trademark mistake. If you believe that your personal savings are safe, then you may be wrong. You are operating as a default sole proprietor. You and your business are the exact same person. As a result, your personal bank account, your car, and even your home are legally up for grabs.

However, if you start an LLC, you can build a legal shield between your business liabilities and your personal life. These days, you can easily form an LLC online.

How Does This Legal Shield Work

When you start an LLC, your business gets a distinct legal identity. Now, your LLC can open its own bank accounts, sign contracts, take out loans, buy equipment, and be held responsible for its own actions. You are not liable. This boundary between you and your business is called the “corporate veil.”

Visualizing the Separation

Inside the Shield (Business Assets)

Everything your company owns is included in this shield. If your business faces a debt collector or a lawsuit, only your business assets are at risk, such as:

Money in the business bank account
Inventory and raw materials
Office equipment, computers, and company vehicles
Business intellectual property

Outside the Shield (Your Personal Assets)

You don’t have to worry about your personal assets, such as:

Your personal checking and savings accounts
Your home and personal real estate
Your family vehicles
Your retirement funds (401k, IRA) and personal investments

What LLC Protection Covers

Business Debts and Contracts

When your LLC signs a commercial lease, hires a contractor, or buys inventory on credit, these are the obligations of the LLC. Your creditors will come after the assets of the LLC if your business can’t pay.

Lawsuits

If your business is sued over a contract dispute, faulty service, or an operational issue, lawsuits will be filed against your business. All your personal assets are safe.

What LLC Protection Does Not Cover

Personal Torts

The term “tort” refers to an act that causes harm or injury to someone else. The LLC shields you from the mistakes of your employees and general business liabilities. However, it never protects you from your own personal actions. For example, if you personally commit fraud, you can be sued personally.

Personal Guarantees

Vendors often hesitate to lend money to new, growing businesses. Such businesses don’t have long credit histories. Lenders often require you to sign a personal guarantee.

How Owners Accidentally Destroy Their Protection

The legal shield provided by forming an LLC only works when you run your business properly. The corporate veil can be pierced when a court decides that your LLC is not legitimate and strips away your protection in a lawsuit. This usually happens when you make one of the following three mistakes.

Commingling Funds

Many small business owners often mix their personal money with their business money. You are commingling funds when you use your business debit card to buy your personal groceries or you deposit a client’s payment directly into your personal checking account. The legal wall crumbles when you don’t treat your business and personal finances as completely separate.

Missing an Operating Agreement

An operating agreement is the legal document that outlines:

How your LLC is run
Who owns what percentage
How profits are handled

If the creditor’s lawyer finds out that an operating agreement is missing, they may argue that your LLC is just a shell.

Falling Out of “Good Standing”

When you start an LLC, you must file annual reports and pay franchise taxes to keep it active. The state will place your business in “Administrative Dissolution” or bad standing if you miss any of these deadlines. You could lose your limited liability protection if you operate a business under an inactive or dissolved LLC.

Startups

Move Fast without Breaking People: Product Safety Lessons for Ambitious Startups

Published

1 month ago

Jul 15, 2026

Addicted2Success Editor

Image Credit: Addicted2success

Fast growth can hide product risks until customers get hurt, especially when safety comes late in development. A software bug can be patched, but a chair, charger, or smart device can cause a burn, fall, cut, or crash.

For founders moving from a prototype to mass sales, the cases handled by Michael Kelly Injury Lawyers in Boston show why launch goals should not push testing, warnings, and foreseeable risks aside. A product claim can involve the design, how a unit was made, user instructions, or several firms in the supply chain.

Why Minimum Viable Should Never Mean Minimally Safe

A minimum viable product should test whether people want an idea, not how much danger they will accept. Teams can delay colors or premium finishes, but not guards, safe heat limits, sound wiring, or clear instructions.

Set Safety Rules Before the Build

The product brief should define who will use the item, where, and what could happen during setup, cleaning, storage, wear, or mistakes. It should also consider what a child, guest, tired worker, or first-time buyer might do.

Shared rules help teams move faster. Designers know which guards must remain. Engineers know which parts cannot fail. Suppliers know what cannot change without review.

Test How People Really Use It

A neat demo is not the real world. Users place products on wet counters, soft rugs, or rough ground. They skip a guide, use the wrong cable, or handle an item in unexpected ways.

Testing should cover misuse without predicting every extreme act. When a risk can be reduced through a guard, lock, stop switch, or clear signal, that design change is often greater than a warning alone.

How Design and Manufacturing Risks Differ

Some risks are built into the design. Others arise when production fails to match the approved plan. Teams need to identify the source before choosing a correction.

Design Problems Start with the Plan

A design problem can affect every unit. A base may tip, a blade may sit too close to a hand, a control may activate too easily, or a battery space may trap heat.

Final inspection cannot repair a flawed plan. The team may need a new shape, shield, limit, material, or control, followed by testing before more units ship.

Manufacturing Problems Break the Plan

A manufacturing problem occurs when a unit or batch does not match the approved design. A fastener may be missing, a weld may be weak, a wire may be damaged, or the wrong component may enter production.

Good records help define the scope. The team should know who made each part, which batch used it, what checks occurred, and where units went. Fast trace work can keep one fault from becoming a wider crisis.

When Customer Feedback Signals More Than Dissatisfaction

Support teams hear about delays, difficult setups, strange sounds, and refunds. Most reports are routine. Yet heat, smoke, sparks, breakage, sharp edges, sudden movement, falls, or failed guards require review.

Treat Complaints as Safety Data

One report may lack key facts, but similar reports can reveal a pattern. Staff should record the model, batch, date, use, photographs, and outcome, then alert someone who can pause sales or order testing.

Teams should not blame unusual use before asking whether another reasonable buyer could make the same choice. A support ticket can be the first sign of a hazard that lab testing missed.

Preserve the Product and the Record

After an injury, the product can help explain what failed. A repair, disposal, or undocumented test can remove evidence. The same applies to old labels, manuals, test files, customer messages, and design notes.

Startups should keep relevant items safely, record who examines them, and preserve earlier versions of instructions and warnings. This history can show what changed and why.

Why Warnings Must Reflect Real Use

A warning works only when a user notices it at the right time. Dense text at the back of a manual may not help during setup. The message should name the hazard, explain the harm, and state what reduces the risk.

Placement matters too. A charging risk belongs near the port. A weight limit belongs where weight is added. Even so, warnings should not replace a safer design when the hazard can reasonably be removed.

How Founders Can Preserve Speed without Cutting Safeguards

A delayed launch, redesign, or recall can feel like defeat. In practice, early action can prevent harm, protect trust, and give the team better facts for the next version. The strongest startups move quickly because their systems protect people.

When a product injures someone, legal guidance can help preserve the item, collect design and manufacturing records, identify responsible companies, and examine whether a defect or unsafe choice caused the harm.