I can do this on my own! So you think when you have a brilliant idea for a startup.
Yes, maybe– if you are baking a cake or grilling some barbeques. Those things you can do by yourself. But jumpstarting a new business is not the case. A startup is unlike any other endeavor in life. Innovators can have many different reasons for creating but doing it for the long haul takes more than just a running idea.
At first, it can be tough and I’m not referring to the startups of Silicon Valley. Those guys have guts (and funding), and probably all the knowledge they have learned academically and business-wise. But for the rest of us who lies at the mercy of our own pursuit, for us who do not know every nook and crook of what it takes to turn a startup into a revenue stream, then maybe we have to take precautionary measures, heed the warning signs and learn as much as we can from where we can get it.
I’d like to share some pointers I’ve learned myself over the course of hauling in the members of our team. I do not claim to be an expert of anything but consider this as an open forum whereby we can share our story to you.
7 tips in building your startup team
1. Co-founders are fundamental to any startup.
Finding a partner who understands the vision and complements your weak spots is crucial to your success.
2. Make mistakes.
Make a lot of them to ensure that throughout the whole life process of your startup, you are able to learn the many ways it won’t work so you can then focus on the things that do.
3. Allow a long time frame for downtime.
Profit should never be the end goal (and this is coming from Mark Zuckerberg who made the facebook empire). A Startup by nature is a disruptive innovation, a solution to a certain problem, a different view of seeing things. You cannot expect to succeed just because you are trying to do something out of the ordinary. Experiment, go for it.
4. Find time to reconcile and reflect on your life.
Is what you are doing today getting you closer to what you want to become tomorrow? Or consider this: is it making you happy as a person? There, I think this speaks volumes in helping you make decisions. Although happiness has many forms, the character you have will reflect on the prototype that you are building.
5. It is never a one-man show.
It may appear to be a by-product of a single person’s ingenuity but nothing works or specifically nothing will be carried out into fruition without a team working on it. Don’t leave behind the essential people who’ve got your back. Listen to what they have to say, construct each other by committing to improvement no matter what. Even if it takes constructive criticisms at times, or multiple disagreements on projects or executions.
6. Separate family and friendships.
A lot has been said about employing close people into business endeavors because when push comes to shove, emotional attachments will always playg a deciding factor.
7. “timing” accounts as the greatest factor in the success of a startup.
According to a certain TED talk initiated by Bill Gross. He said it comprises 42% to be exact (as compared to team execution, idea, business model and funding as other elements) Team execution comes second with 32%. Nevertheless, this timing is an incorporation of inputs, outputs, data gathered, analysis, conclusion and more contemplation of multiple variables playing a great part in your startup endeavor. And who does this? – the human mind of course. But brilliance cannot be consumed as a whole. It has to be spread out evenly among other members.
Have you heard of a one-man startup? Or is there a business run solely by a single person? Can you think of a business that thrived only because it is so great it didn’t need to evolve? Tell us your startup tales in the comment section below. What were your struggles and how did you overcome them? Do you have any additional tips we can add to the list? We’d love to hear them!
