5 HR Nightmares Every Startup Faces (And How to Avoid Them)

Let's talk about those HR moments that make founders wake up in a cold sweat. You know the ones - they usually start with "Oh crap" and end with frantic Googling at 2 AM.

The "We Never Wrote That Down" Panic

Your star employee is leaving and suddenly everyone realizes all your critical processes lived in their head. Oops.

Quick Fix: Start documenting key processes now. They don't need to be perfect - even basic Notion docs are better than nothing.

The Classification Chaos

That contractor you've been working with for months? Turns out they should've been an employee. Queue the tax headache.

Quick Fix: Review your worker classifications ASAP. When in doubt, talk to an expert before the IRS talks to you.

The Policy Void

An HR issue pops up and everyone looks around wondering "Wait, what's our policy on that?" Spoiler: You don't have one.

Quick Fix: Start with the basics - PTO, remote work, and code of conduct. Build from there.

The Hiring Hurricane

Suddenly you need to hire five people yesterday, but you have no hiring process, no job descriptions, and everyone's "too busy" to interview.

Quick Fix: Create simple job description templates and a basic interview process before you're desperate for them.

The Culture Crumble

One day you look around and realize your awesome startup culture has turned into... something else. And nobody's happy about it.

Quick Fix: Define your values and culture now, while your team is small. It's much harder to course-correct later.

Here's the thing - every startup hits these speed bumps. The difference is in how prepared you are when they come.

Need help getting ahead of these nightmares? Let's chat.

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