The flexibility and empowerment that comes with working as a
start up can be incredibly appealing. Setting your own work hours, working from
home and seeing your ideas come to life can be motivating. But as a start up
scales, herein lies the challenge: How do you scale up and turn profitable
while keeping your start up vibe.
As start ups grow, what began as a tight-knit group of people
often evolves into different departments that combine into their own groups. In
cases like this, communication can suffer from expansion. Here are tips on
growing your business beyond the start up phase.
FLEXIBILITY IN WORK HOURS: flexibility and the work life
balance it affords is a benefit. If you want to hire the best talent, flexible
hours are an important to consider, try getting rid of the idea of the “9 to 5”
employees. An employee's option to work from home and the ability to set their
own hours can attract top-notch prospects. As long as the work is getting done
on time, it doesn’t matter when or where that happens.
VALUE EMPLOYEES IDEAS: One of the best parts of working at a
start up is that your ideas are heard. As a company gets bigger, this becomes
more unlikely. Don’t give up this openness. Employees feel empowered when they
can bring their creative ideas to the table and have their voices heard. Good
ideas can come from anyone at a company.
ENCOURAGE GOOD RELATIONSHIPS: At a start-up, everyone knows
everyone. But as the company thrives, teams often break off into smaller groups
and communication can start to suffer. Facilitate channels for interaction so
that people get to know each other personally. Host events on a regular basis
and create activities that encourage mingling between groups.
MAKE THE WORK ENVIRONMENT FUN TO BE: start ups often have
very appealing work environments that employees want to engage with. These
leisure spaces encourage much-needed breaks, which helps stimulate curiosity
and boost productivity. As companies grow larger, keep these kinds of spaces
abundant around the office.
BENEFIT FROM THE GROWTH: Start ups are in business to
succeed. No one is going to complain about the job security that growth can
bring. Being profitable is a good sign that your business is working and it can
help your company retain talent. Use growth to overcome the misconception that employees
will be working 16 hours a day for a company that won’t be around tomorrow.
This stability will attract top experienced talent.
Use the passion, openness and flexibility to lure success to
your business even beyond the start up stage.