How to Hire Part-Time Staff by the Hour When Starting a New Business

Hiring part-time hourly staff is a flexible, cost-saving, and performance-optimizing solution for startups in the early stage. Why is this important? Because 67% of Vietnamese startups face cash flow difficulties in their first year of operation, according to data from Venture Capital Insight.

When resources are limited, you cannot build a "perfect" full-time team from the start. However, with part-time hourly staff, you can still access quality expertise at a much lower cost compared to traditional recruitment.

As a partner alongside hundreds of SMEs in Vietnam,DPS.MEDIA we have observed: startups with flexible staffing strategies – hiring the right people, at the right time – often overcome early challenges 30% faster than those hiring based on intuition.

Not only does hourly hiring save initial operational costs, it also allows startups to quickly experiment with multiple functions and roles, thereby clearly defining internal needs to plan a more stable staffing strategy during expansion.

Key point: startups don’t need a large team, but a suitable team – the right people, at the right time, and with the right goals. Hiring part-time hourly staff is the "bridge" that helps you reach that without burning out resources.

Understand the part-time hourly staffing needs during the startup phase

First, flexible and cost-optimized operational expenses

In the early startup phase, businesses often face budget constraints and unproven business model risks. Hiring part-time hourly staff helps reduce fixed financial pressure while increasing flexibility in adjusting resources according to each development stage. According to research from Harvard Business Review (2022), startups with flexible staffing strategies from the start pivot 1.5 times faster than those with traditional full-time recruitment models.

DPS.MEDIA recommends: "Instead of trying to build a full-time team early, focus on efficiency from the start – hire individuals who bring the highest value within the necessary hours."

Carefully select core skills to hire according to tasks

The key pattern is that you don't need to hire all common positions but should break down the work into specific core tasks. For example: if you run Facebook ads but don't know how to optimize image content, hiring a part-time freelancer for 4 hours per week can be much more effective than signing a long-term labor contract. This is especially useful in the context of the gig economy specializing in micro-skills.

• Digital Marketing: Ads performance specialist, content editor
• Technical: Part-time web developer, UI/UX tester by sprint
• Operations: Virtual assistant, order processing, customer care

Case study: An F&B startup and hourly staffing strategy

A client of DPS.MEDIA in the specialty coffee field in Ho Chi Minh City has implemented a model of a 3-person core full-time team combined with 6 hourly staff including freelance baristas, part-time digital ads staff, and social media collaborators. After 6 months: personnel costs reduced by 371 million VND, and the ability to run digital campaigns increased by 2,121 million VND. Below is a summary table illustrating the estimated personnel costs by hour:

This approach not only helps businesses optimize budgets but also creates a flexible platform to scale personnel according to actual needs, thereby maintaining competitiveness in today's high-pressure environment.

Accurately identify the necessary skills and positions to optimize work performance

Determine which core skills drive startup operations

One common mistake of startups when hiring part-time hourly staff is spreading resources too thinly across many secondary tasks. According to Harvard Business Review (2020), successful companies in early stages focus maximally on positions that directly create transformational value – for example: product, marketing, and sales. From DPS.MEDIA's perspective, we always recommend businesses to prioritize return on investment (ROI)especially when it comes to flexible human resources like part-time staff.

Below is a classification table of common roles, along with priority ratings when hiring hourly staff in the startup phase:

Choose the right people for the right jobs based on growth objectives

Applying Eric Ries' “Lean Startup” principle, each part-time hourly hire must contribute to a key business hypothesis. For example, if you are testing a new product idea, it is better to hire an hourly content marketer to create a landing page for market testing rather than hiring an in-house designer.

A recent case study from a startup client in the natural cosmetics industry in Ho Chi Minh City that DPS.MEDIA accompanied: Instead of hiring a fixed digital staff for the whole month, the client flexibly hired 3 hourly freelancers including a graphic designer, a copywriter, and a Facebook media buyer. Result: a 381 million VND increase in conversion rate within three weeks with personnel costs only one-fifth compared to the fixed model.

• Tips for founders: Draw a value map to identify leverage points in operational strategy.
• Always test work effectiveness through metrics, not emotions.
• Don't hire out of shortage, hire out of necessity.

Design a flexible work model and appropriate compensation policies

First, a hybrid model to optimize performance and costs

For startups in Vietnam, especially SMEs, implementing a flexible working model is not only a global trend but also a strategic solution to reduce office costs and optimize human resource efficiency. According to research by Harvard Business Review, hybrid working models – combining onsite and remote – help increase employee productivity by up to 13%. DPS.MEDIA has previously advised a startup in the natural cosmetics field to apply the 3-2 model: 3 days working from home, 2 days onsite. As a result, operating costs decreased by 271 million VND in the first quarter, and the working spirit of part-time staff was also significantly more positive.

Compensation policies are not just about salary – design the experience

In the context of limited financial resources when starting a business, high salaries are not always the decisive factor in retaining part-time staff. Instead, invest in “employee experience” – a concept emphasized by Jacob Morgan in the book The Employee Experience Advantage. Factors such as:

• Flexible working hours: help students or other groups work flexibly around study and work schedules.
• Free skills training: encourages long-term commitment.
• Short-term KPI-based bonuses: transparent and immediately stimulate performance even for part-timers.

Illustrate some creative policies suitable for part-time staff

From implementing solutions with more than 50 SMEs, DPS.MEDIA has observed that young part-time workers not only need “a job” but also seek an ecosystem to develop and test their capabilities. Smart startups know how to create such a space – not necessarily perfect but smart enough – to attract the right people at the right time.

Select effective recruitment channels to reach the right potential candidates

First, a platform with a quality freelancer community

When starting a business with a limited budget, hiring part-time staff on an hourly basis is optimal both in cost and professional efficiency. From DPS.MEDIA’s perspective, we recommend founders focus on platforms with clear specialized communities such as:

• Vlance.vn – Suitable if you need marketing, content, design, or online sales management staff.
• TopCV Freelance – Easy to find students in related fields or people with a few years of freelancing experience.
• Industry-specific Facebook Groups – Some reputable groups like “Freelancer Vietnam” or “Online Marketing Recruitment” are closely monitored with high interaction rates, extremely effective if you know how to write attractive job descriptions.

Run recruitment ads like a mini marketing campaign

Interestingly, the mindset of advertising products can also be effectively applied to recruitment. DPS.MEDIA once supported an F&B startup in Ho Chi Minh City running a Facebook Ads campaign to recruit online sales collaborators – results: with only 500,000 VND, they received over 130 applications within 5 days. We used a short landing page targeting students majoring in economics and part-time sales.

Optimize recruitment SEO to "naturally attract" potential candidates

Based on research from CareerBuilder Vietnam (2023), nearly 62% part-time job seekers use Google search. Therefore, startups should leverage their own website or business blog to create recruitment landing pages with attractive titles and SEO-friendly content. For example: “Recruiting Banner Design CTV – Part-time Remote – Project-based Salary” instead of a too dry title like “Recruiting Design Staff”. Combined with current keywords “freelancer + field”, ⁤you can‍ reach the right people without spending much on Media.

Build a short but thorough onboarding process

Design a flexible onboarding experience by role

A common mistake in startups is applying a uniform process for all part-time staff – this makes onboarding ineffective and wastes time on both sides. Instead, think from the user experience design perspective: you need a flexible “onboarding kit” tailored to each function like CSKH, content, order⁣ management…

For example, at DPS.MEDIA when setting up a team of collaborators writing articles for an F&B client, we⁣ divide onboarding into 3 clear parts:

– Brand & tone‍ of voice introduction: from banned keywords to guidelines describing dishes, all designed in a 1-page slide format.
– Weekly work checklist: specific, easy to follow, with sample​ articles for reference.
– 20-minute direct call session: the manager only needs to guide once initially, subsequent times can use pre-recorded videos.

Optimize time while ensuring connection

According to research from Harvard Business Review (2023), part-time staff tend to be less engaged if they don’t perceive the meaning of their role. Therefore,⁣ instead of cramming onboarding into a 2-hour session, startups should ⁢create micro-onboarding channels – distributing information clearly by time milestones.

Combine automation and human touch

Using tools like Notion, Trello or Airtable helps you create a self-running onboarding system, but don’t⁢ neglect the “human” factor – a voice greeting from the co-founder, or⁣ a Zalo message with real emotions, will make a remarkable difference. ‍

At DPS.MEDIA, we deploy a quiz-style chatbot to both test writing skills and convey corporate culture. Part-time staff answer in 5 minutes, but thanks to that they better understand the “essence” ‌that the brand ‌wants‌ to express – combining speed and depth just like the initial expectation.

Apply digital tools to manage and evaluate work performance

Effectively manage part-time staff with a digital tool ecosystem

When ‌you are a newly established startup and‌ start mobilizing hourly staff, using digital tools not only helps reduce operational burdens but also optimizes personnel costs. According to the 2023 report‍ from Harvard Business Review, nearly 58% companies under 3 years old in Asia have switched to remote management models using digital tools ​to maintain flexibility ⁤and control performance.

At DPS.MEDIA, we often advise SMEs to integrate platforms such as:

• Trello / Notion: Manage tasks ‌and progress in real time through Kanban boards.
• Clockify:‍ Track working hours and performance by each task.
• Google Workspace:⁣ An effective collaborative ecosystem, from communication to document storage.

Synchronizing these tools will allow businesses to build a transparent management method, easily measuring KPIs even when personnel are not physically present in the office.

Measure performance through work metrics and behaviors

From an internal survey of DPS.MEDIA on over 30 startup projects in 2022-2023, we found that combining quantitative indicators (such as hours worked, tasks completed) with behavioral data (proactiveness, timely feedback) is the key to truly evaluating the effectiveness of part-time freelancers.

Example from an F&B startup project implemented by DPS.MEDIA in 2023: A coffee shop owner used a part-time content team to manage fanpage and TikTok by the hour. Thanks to integrating Notion for content management + Timeular for work logging + WhatsApp API for progress reporting, marketing operating costs in the first month decreased by 37% compared to the forecast, while the interaction rate increased 2.4 times after 4 weeks.

Conclusion: With a limited budget, startups need not only to hire the right people but also to design a smart “digital work ecosystem” to measure, optimize, and scale efficiency in the shortest time.

Maintain connection and corporate culture with the part-time team

Embed cultural values right from onboarding

Even when the part-time team works only a few hours each day, transmitting corporate culture must still be prioritized. According to Deloitte's 2023 report, employees who clearly understand the company's vision are 27% more productive. DPS.MEDIA often recommends startups design onboarding processes that are concise yet deep, combining "work guidance" and brand storytelling. For example, a client in the F&B sector used a brand storytelling video under 3 minutes as an essential part of the first day for part-time staff, creating immediate empathy.

Create connection rhythm through flexible activities

When you cannot require the constant physical presence of part-time staff, choose the “micro but close” approach. SMEs can organize:

• regular virtual meetings of 15 minutes weekly with a tone of storytelling, work updates, and mental encouragement
• Internal newsletters on Zalo or email summarizing product changes, customer feedback
• Dedicated group chats for “success stories of the week” to encourage a culture of recognition

We have found that in education and healthcare sectors—where part-time staff account for up to 40%—maintaining small but frequent touchpoints helps increase engagement levels by up to 60% after just 2 months (according to DPS.MEDIA internal statistics in 2024).

Illustration: factors that retain part-time staff

Proactiveness in connecting with part-time employees not only reflects leadership vision but is also a vital survival factor for startups. At DPS.MEDIA, we always accompany to make flexible models sustainable without “wearing out” the company’s soul.

Key takeaways

Hiring part-time hourly staff not only helps startups save costs but also brings flexibility to optimize operations in the early stages. However, to be effective, you need clear processes from recruitment, training to performance management. As we have shared, a basic strategic approach will help you maximize this resource.

At DPS.MEDIA, we believe part-time staff is a suitable solution for SMEs in the startup and early growth phases. When the business and marketing strategy framework is flexible enough, you can easily integrate outsourced personnel while maintaining quality and consistency in brand development. This is also an opportunity to start forming an open corporate culture that welcomes diversity from different collaborators.

If you are planning recruitment but are unclear about how to connect part-time staff with effective marketing campaigns, this is the time to explore “agile marketing” — a model that helps businesses easily coordinate multiple personnel and different digital tools. Topics such as remote management, marketing budget allocation by project, or building agile teams can be the next research directions for you.

Let us know your opinion: have you ever hired part-time hourly staff? What did you understand as results and what were the biggest difficulties? Please leave a comment below to discuss, or share if you think this article can help those who are starting a business like you!