A lot of people whom I've seen start a forum usually get at least one or two other people to join them as staff members. It means they need hello from the beginning when it comes to running their community.

Maybe it's because of the size of project they are working or they simply want to have the staff structure in their forum.

Do you hire a staff immediately your forum is launched?

I don't tend to hire staff immediately when I first launch a forum as I feel a lot of the time, myself and my other half can handle the workload.

If we start getting busier, that is when I will maybe hire one or two moderators to help with the workload.

I wouldn't say there is a hard and fast rule. The last forum I launched on my own, my wife was co-admin. I quickly added trusted members I knew from other communities to the staff. Just one example though.

Try to start out solo and do that until it’s overwhelming.

Then I add a moderator (volunteer).

After it becomes overwhelming for both of us, we add another moderator.

And repeat.

For ChatterSpace I was going to stay as the solo staff member but I’ve got a friend helping out so she can learn how forums work and stuff like that. She’s also helping at Spark Promotion and I’ve got two more experienced moderators there.

You don’t need any staff until you need some staff.

It depends on the niche of the forum, if you have a promotional forum and offer services you’ll need some extra help to complete orders. If it’s a general discussion forum or a gaming one, you should wait to hire staff until the time is right. You can handle the forums when it’s brand new.

I tend to do it all myself until it gets too much and I need someone else. I’d also prioritise hiring people from a different timezone to me (usually North America).