The Current Reality of Starting a Small Business and Hiring in 2025

In addition to my consulting business, I’m also working on a small software startup — which, as my friend pointed out, is technically a B2B SaaS company. I say “unfortunately” because the term just sounds gross, even though all it really means is selling software from one business to another. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. But the overall culture of tech has gotten so divisive and self-referential that even saying “SaaS” feels weird now.

Part of this process has involved trying to hire a part-time developer and a part-time UX/UI designer. At first, I assumed I’d need to search through platforms like Upwork. Then it hit me: I already have a couple thousand people on LinkedIn — and a lot of them are UX designers, developers, and engineers. So why not post there and see if anyone I already know is interested?

Within three hours, I had close to 100 applications.

That’s the 2025 job market.

Most of the people reaching out were from India, but I also heard from candidates across Europe, the U.S., and Latin America. The flood of messages was overwhelming. I’m not a big corporate HR department — just one person trying to sort through hundreds of qualified people.

When I look at their profiles, almost everyone seems capable: strong backgrounds, solid portfolios, good communication. And that’s just the ones who managed to message me directly — even more people added me on LinkedIn afterward, presumably so they could reach out too.

It really puts into perspective what it’s like on both sides of hiring right now.

From the applicant side, it feels like sending your résumé into a black hole. Automated systems decide your fate based on keywords and arbitrary filters. You can be perfectly qualified and still never make it past the algorithm.

From the hiring side, it’s chaos too. There are so many talented people looking for work that even a small, informal post brings a tidal wave of responses.

So my first sorting criterion has to be:

Who actually cares about the mission of what I’m doing?

Not just the product — but the idea of building something that generates revenue to give away to charitable causes.

The volume of interest is both inspiring and heartbreaking. Inspiring, because it shows how much skill and energy people have. Heartbreaking, because it shows how little opportunity there is to match it with purpose.

The reality is that in 2025, hiring feels broken on both sides. There’s no shortage of talent. What’s missing is the space for genuine human connection.

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