7 Start-up Habits Worth Keeping No Matter How Big Your Business Grows In Nigeria
I bet every start-up wants to become an established business eventually. If you don’t have that idea or view, then you have no business having a start-up. When you eventually become a known and respected business empire, there are start-up habits worth keeping.
Because of the changes in scale and operational level of a full grown business, people tend to erroneously forget some of the traits they had that brought them to that place and level.
Related: 5 fatal startup mistakes entrepreneurs make in Nigeria and how to correct them
This is not to downplay the importance of moving on from setting characteristics and habits. This is to tell you that there are certain start-up habits worth keeping and you better don’t forget.
You see, getting to the top is difficult. What you should also know is that staying at the top is even more difficult.
That is why you should hold on tenaciously to some of the habits you exhibited while going to the top. They will certainly help in keeping you at the top.
Below are seven start-up habits worth keeping. I bet you will find them intriguing. All the best.
Related: 7 habits of people with remarkable mental toughness in Nigeria
Start-Up Habits Worth Keeping When Your Business Grows
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Experiment and take risks
Start-ups are always experimenting and taking risks because they are not really sure of what will work for them. They try new things and they iterate on things that work.
This is one of the start-up habits worth keeping because as a big company, you may have figured what works for you and you might feel there is no need for all of that.
You are so wrong. I’m telling you categorically that there is no need to stop innovating or experimenting with new things as the market around you evolves.
A big example is the Coca-Cola Company. Watch this:
“Coca-Cola, for example, splits its advertising budget in three. They use 70 percent of it to do things they know work well, 20 percent to try things that are a bit riskier or iterate on past successful experimentations, and the last 10 percent to go for crazy experiments on that could fail completely. This enables them to stay on top of advertising innovation as the largest beverage company in the world while ensuring they’re not risking everything.”
2. Keep mixing and matching jobs
Most start-ups have one thing in common; the members of the team do everything together. They, usually, have between 3-6 team members doing everything. Everybody, out of necessity, wore different several hats. They multitasked.
This is regarded as one of the start-up habits worth keeping as a big business. You see, this ensures that your employees or partners can work better with each other.
3. Hang out
This is on the social plane. Take it or not, the social plane has a way of affecting the business plane. You have to find a way to have moments of social interaction with your team outside of meetings.
It may sound trivial but it is not. Start-ups always had time to hang out because of the microscopic nature of the business. You as a big business can do same even if it is sporadic.
You can have lunch or other moments that are not business inclined. They can offer a perfect opportunity to come up with new ideas.
4. Stay close to your users
What we advise is that you stay connected to your clients and customers and users. You know start-ups always stay close and connected with their first clients. They care for them and they are really dear to their heart.
It is this regard that we this point as one of the start-up habits worth keeping. Your business will grow because of your customers and clients. Never lose focus on that. Big businesses have the potentials to run the risk of not caring for their customers anymore. It is not right.
5. Stay transparent
Transparency is one of the start-up habits worth keeping. As a start-up, you have the ability to allow free flow information because there are few people involved. When you become bigger, it becomes more difficult.
Some big businesses are really transparent while others are not. The argument is that you should be transparent. It does you a world of good. It is about the employee-employer relationship on the one hand and business-customer relationship on the other hand.
Transparency makes the workers stay loyal and it attracts more customer. Remember, mouth to mouth networking still works miracles.
6. Keep things simple
As your company grows, the temptation to make your products complex especially for those in tech business becomes very high. Beware, customers hate unnecessary complications. They will choose a simple product over a complex product in so far as the end results are the same.
You know, start-ups always keep it simple. Maybe that’s why they succeed in the first place. Don’t lose that simplicity and when you upgrade, hide the technicalities from the customers as much as you can.
7. Stop planning, start doing
Taking all your life planning something doesn’t exactly amount to success. This is something successful start-ups know. They just make do with what they have and that is it. They think of course and plan but they start and do. You should imbibe that same thought process.
We are not downplaying the importance of proper planning but perfection isn’t going to get you anywhere. It is very important for you to plan but you know what is more important than that? Acting.
