How to Build a Sales Team from Scratch in a Startup 2025

It is one of the most essential steps to build a successful sales function team for any new business. But the main question arises how to build a sales team from scratch in a startup that various founders find challenging. With unpredictable markets, limited resources, and the pressure to grow fast, startups should take a flexible and strategic approach.

This comprehensive blog will help you to walk through everything you need to know about how to build a sales team from scratch in a startup and help you to scale the process.

Know about your target market and sales goals

You must define your startup sales strategy before diving deep into how to build a sales team from scratch in a startup. What is your average deal size? What is your ideal customer profile? Are you selling to consumers(B2C) or businesses(B2B)?

These questions will help you to have clarity which will shape how your sales team scales and operates. Knowing about your sales cycle and audience is the main aspect of making smart decisions about tools, job roles, and outreach methods. This step will lead to the foundation for everything that follows.

Hiring your first rep

Your first hire is very critical when considering how to build a sales team from scratch in a startup. Hiring your first rep should be about finding someone who is self-driven, flexible, and excited by the challenge and chaos of the initial stages in startups.

Try to find generalists who can handle closing, prospecting, and onboarding. They should also offer feedback on what is going on in the industry. Avoid hiring reps who are used to only large enterprise, structured environments. They usually find difficulty without marketing support and set processes.

Build a sales team structure that grows

It is essential to think ahead when you want to know how to build a sales team from scratch in a startup. Think of a sales team structure that will transform over time. Initially, the structure might be flat, but as you start scaling up, you will need specialization.

For example, you can start with having full-cycle professionals, then later divide them into different job roles of Account Executives (AEs) and Sales Development Reps (SDRs) as a part of your B2B sales for startups approach.

Create the right sales process initially

It is essential to understand the importance of the process when exploring how to build a sales team from scratch in a startup. Start documenting your sales process development from the beginning, even if it is just basic.

This mainly involves outreach templates, Deal qualification criteria, how leads are sourced, CRM workflows, and closing strategies. Having a repeatable process will make sure that as you hire, professionals can scale quicker and align with the goals of your company.

Focus on onboarding and training

Training is essential when discussing how to build a sales team from scratch in a startup. Startups usually cannot afford to ramp up for months. So, equip your professionals with object-handling scripts, product knowledge, and insights into customer pain points.

As early-stage startups' growth can change quickly, your training must be constantly updated and agile. Learning with a selling approach with frequent feedback, works best for this.

Use the right tools

It is important to invest in sales tools for startups if you are actually serious about how to build a sales team from scratch in a startup. The right CRM, call tracking, email automation, and data enrichment tools can make your small startup team operate like a large one.

Some popular options involve Pipedrive, Hubspot, Gong, and Apollo. These are the tools that can integrate well, are easy to set up, and don’t need a full-time admin to manage.

Balance inbound and outbound sales

An ongoing debate on how to build a sales team from scratch in a startup is inbound vs outbound sales. Inbound sales grow better long-term but require investment and time in SEO and content. Whereas, Outbound sales gives immediate control to choose your timelines and prospects.

A great strategy includes starting with outbound sales like B2B and layering it with inbound sales with time as your marketing engine grows.

Iterate and track metrics constantly

Metrics are essential for how to build a sales team from scratch in a startup. Track KPIs like deal velocity, win rates, conversion rates, and average deal size. Record this data and use it to refine your process, hiring strategy, and messaging.

Transparency in numbers helps team members to learn from each other and create accountability.

Conclusion

Knowing how to build a sales team from scratch in a startup is more than hiring professionals- it is about structure, strategy, culture, and tools. Stay focused, start small, and keep growing.

No matter if it is about defining your startup sales strategy, optimizing your sales process development, hiring your first reps, every decision counts. Adapt fast, create fast, and your startup will have a sales engine that attracts sustainable success.