I fired one of our workers the first time

Ilya Novohatskyi

Feb 17, 2023

Hi everyone.

This week, I fired one person in our team, started developing custom pages for concierge service, and helped one founder to exit.

It was a great week regarding life lessons and important things you can learn from practice instead of books. I value those lessons, mainly if they depend on my actions. I can learn, analyze and come to conclusions. As a result, it becomes my experience.

Hiring is a complicated process. And I found a good person, but it turned out that I didn't need to hire at all. But how come?

I didn't ask myself these important questions:

Is it urgent or optional?
Will it help our customers earn more?
Will it help Microns earn more?

My global vision for Microns is to help millions of people become acquisition entrepreneurs. I want my customers to become wealthier than they were before. I want to make M&A available for small investors and entrepreneurs worldwide. Until then, I'll put myself to work and share my journey with you.

👋 Welcome

Welcome to the 58 new people joining this week.

Let me know what you think of your first issue. Replying helps Google realize it’s not spam.

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Now let’s crack on with the newsletter ☕️

🎉 Recently sold startup

Exciting project with traction, revenue, and some operating history. I like how this startup tries to solve the problem of building a site without code. Did you ever imagine that you could create a site from Google sheets?

Here's my observation about key success factors:

This project had users and revenue, which helped to attract attention.
Both seller and buyer were serious about an exit. They had active and excellent communication.
The seller used our concierge service to close the deal safely. We provided full support to the buyer and seller during the acquisition to make the process smooth.

Before considering selling your project, I suggest founders grow your project to some stage, so you have something valuable in your hands. Remember, buyers, are looking for opportunities but pay for performance.

Then provide as much information as possible in your listing (including metrics, how it works, and the story behind it). This all adds up in the eyes of a potential buyer and plays a crucial role in your exit timeline.

staticmaker @staticmaker1

Thanks to @micronsio. SiteFast(@sitefast1 ) has been acquired! Mircons had great customer service. I was a bit worried about the transfer process, but it wasn’t a problem at all. #buildinpublic

ℹ️ If you send us a founder who would sell the project on Microns, we'll pay you from $100 to $1,000 referral bonus (depending on the deal). The only requirement is that the transaction should flow through our concierge service.

staticmaker @staticmaker1

@ilyanovohatskyi Got money within days using Microns concierge service. Highly appreciate this move!

🎬 My first layoff

This week I learned a few important lessons the hard way. I laid off our SMM specialist after three months of work.

Ilya Novohatskyi 🇺🇦 @ilyanovohatskyi

Just fired one of our team members 😔 I have mixed feelings.

When I hired the person, I had good intentions. I wanted to grow Microns faster, earn more, and keep building the platform. Unfortunately, it turned out it didn't work this way. I only spent more time managing stuff, we didn't grow as expected, and I needed to throw revenue from my agency to cover the salary. As a result, I was confused and disappointed because my expectations didn't match the reality.

I wanted to free up some time for development, strategy, and family by hiring SMM. Half of this became true. Some days I had much free time, while others were busy. Anyway, I spent more time managing instead of executing. As a result, I felt disconnected from the startup.

I figured out that I started hiring too early. It was a mistake to leave a business at this stage when the project was like a ten-year-old kid. But, I understood that less is more, and no one knows a company better than the person who founded it. Only hire if your startup is profitable enough to keep you and your team for at least three months without any revenue.

Ilya Novohatskyi 🇺🇦 @ilyanovohatskyi

Lesson learned the hard way: Don't quit the business when it isn't profitable enough. Instead, figure out only activities that have high ROI and cost little.

So stay lean and flexible as long as possible. Don't hire if there's no urgent need because laying people off isn't a pleasant process. And build your next project with profitability in mind. I hope you'll learn from my mistake.