As a startup, you’re likely just finding your feet, and every day is somewhat of a battle in competence. This means that finding your way can be tough, and may remain beset by troubles and challenges that you need to overcome or remain in the dark about. This can be important to consider, because after all, this is a learning process.
That being said, even humble startups need to perfect a few business matters. For example, a startup cannot simply excuse a lack of fire safety within the humble premises it uses simply because they’re not ‘large enough yet,’ no – this is something that should come as fundamental to their operation, and should put the operation on pause before it is fully resolved and ensured.
This is quite a petty and obvious example, but it stands as one of the clearest for any startup owner to understand. When we translate this mindset to other practical elements said owner may think they can ‘put off for now,’ we show them that they would be better off addressing these matters immediately.
With the following advice, you’ll see why this is:
Payroll
No matter the risks being taken when someone joins your firm to help you develop, if they are there as an official employee with the expectation of payment, you absolutely need to secure your payroll. It’s unlikely that despite all of the other intense developments you need to work on here, you’re going to find time to accurately and adequately calculate payroll, particularly if you have more than one employee, and if hours vary each day.
This is where payroll outsourcing can be your best friends. Simply leaving it to the professionals with a range of easy interfacing suites that help you come to the best conclusion each time will be revolutionary for the internal workings of your brand, and will set those standards now. It’s these kinds of measures that can help you avoid a tense relationship with those who may be taking a risk occupying your startup in the first place, because if there’s anything that can cause friends and family to splinter, it’s money issues. Odds are, a startup with limit reach will be comprised of at least your friends or those you are familiar with, so it’s important to truly make an effort in perfecting this as soon as you can.
Team Building
Developing a startup can be an incredibly exciting time, but it can also be extremely stressful. Odds are that even those you trust and are friendly with will find themselves a little tired or irritated from time to time, because you will all come across many challenges, and miscommunication can lead to frayed nerves.
This is why, even if you’re friends, it’s important to focus on some team-building activities from time to time. Spend some time with one another outside of the office you have, or do something for the fun of it, or have fun little ‘no uniform’ days within the office where you dress in pajamas. Don’t be afraid to be silly, or even to head to an activity day together where teamwork exercises are practiced. Getting into that office headspace is important, but it’s also important to settle those nerves and talk of something other than the hard work you have in front of you from time to time.
Reliable Standards
Reliable standards matter. It’s important that you keep your humble office space clean, even if this is simply a collection of desks and computer units in your garage. It’s essential that you dress for the job, even if you’re not attending trade shows or networking as of yet. It’s important to ensure that you are always reliable in your customer-facing pursuits, such as taking on support requests, in managing tickets, or in how you explain your payment options to new, inquisitive potential clients.
Lao Tzu once coined the following immensely profound phrase ‘“Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” To that, we might also add watch your standards, for they reinforce your habits. It’s best to get into this business headspace now because it’s much easier to sprout from good habits than to repair bad ones.
With this advice, you are certain to find a careful approach to setting your startup processes, no matter how humble you are right now, you will surely extrapolate these efforts into future positivity.
(Cover Photo Source: Pexels – CC0 License)