Three Keys to Startup Success
Once the lightbulb turns on, there is no stopping a determined entrepreneur. He works diligently, night and day, to outline the business plan, the product plan and brainstorms how to find funding. He bursts with excitement when telling others about his great idea, and quickly gets his business off the ground and headed toward startup business success.
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What’s missing from the scenario above? If you answered “everything in the middle” you’d be right. Within any startup business, there are many factors that go into ensuring business success. Each of these ingredients can be brought together to build one, solid business foundation to grow the success of the business as a whole.
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Assuming you already have a strong product or service offering and you have the resources to start the business, there are 3 key ingredients that can mean the success or failure of the business recipe: The Right People, The Right Tools and The Right Energy.
The Right People
Having the right people in your business is huge! When hiring a team to help bring your business increased success, make sure they have the following:
- A can-do attitude
- A roll-up-your-sleeves mentality
- The brains to improve the business and processes
- The guts to take chances
- The desire to succeed
This might seem like a lot to ask, but if you don’t see these traits in the people you are interviewing, do not hire them. It will cost you time, money and energy just to find out that the decision to bring them on board was a bad one.
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However, if you hire people who exemplify the traits above, you have just scored yourself a big win. These team members will work hard for you, will be dedicated to the business and the product and will bring your team forward toward greater business success.
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You can’t take chances here. Make sure you hire the right people right off the bat and watch how they help shape your business for the better.
The Right Tools
It’s no longer enough to give your employees a computer, a phone, an email address, a desk and chair and expect them to work efficiently. You now need to give them access to the right tools with which to communicate, stay organized and keep on task.
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How do you prefer to communicate with others in your business? Is email working as well as you’d like? My guess is probably not. Outline communication processes and look for online solutions that facilitate greater communication and collaboration. Social media-like services mixed with instant messaging and communication storage can greatly increase the outcome of each online conversation, and bring team members together.
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Find easy online solutions to store business documents, customer files and training information as well. And try to keep all this organized in the same system in which you manage work. Scheduling tasks, managing projects and organizing work with documents and communications only increases the efficiency of the work tools you use, and you will love the way it easily brings people and work together.
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Giving your team access to these types of solutions will start them off on the right foot and increase their ability to stay organized, on task and increase successful business communications.
The Right Energy
Startups thrive off of the energy and entrepreneurial spirit of their people. It takes a lot of nights and weekends to make a startup business successful, and without the right energy in your team and your business, that work either won’t get done or won’t be of high quality.
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So how do you keep the people in your business energized and excited to tackle the work at hand? Here are a few tips to do just that:
- Work together
- Stay organized
- Celebrate success
- Have fun
Building up the positive energy in your team and showing them the fruits of their labor can dramatically increase their desire to continue working and to put forth the effort it takes to increase your startup success.
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By ensuring you are including the right people, tools and energy in your startup, you are virtually guaranteeing yourself great business success. So roll up your sleeves, get to work and watch your business turn into something great!
About the Author: Dana Larson is the Marketing and Community Manager at OnePlace, an online business collaboration and organization solution that increases the effectiveness of business communications and team productivity.
A smart and outgoing gal, Dana and the rest of the OnePlace team blog regularly about team collaboration, business techniques and productivity solutions at http://blog.oneplacehome.com
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These are all great points. Working in a startup means you need the energy, insight, and enthusiasm of a team of 20 when you’re actually working with a team of 5. Finding candidates and employees with as many of these traits as possible will yield more mileage from a smaller team.
Celebrating success is also important as a way to keep motivation and enthusiasm high. When you have a startup, you’re initially the “true believers” in your business, so taking time to toast your achievements will keep everyone excited and committed about the cause.
Dana,
I would add: Clear understanding and belief in shared goals (the shared, right goals). Perhaps this falls under The Right People.
My best,
Lokesh Datta
http://www.allcollaboration.com
Twitter: @LDatta
I have to agree that positive energy is really important in any working environment. Negativity just spreads through everyone and brings everyone down. It is much more productive to be around people who build each other up and can take on challenges together.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I am a big believer in having a positive attitude and a high energy to produce quality work and an enjoyable work environment.
Lokesh – great point about the shared understanding and the belief in shared goals. This is an important trait to look for when finding the right people to work in your startup. Thanks for adding!
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