What can we learn from innovators and new ventures?
Our world changes almost constantly.
Technology is always improving and adapting.
The ways we work, relax, purchase, and live change every day.
This means new business opportunities are constantly emerging.
And many of us dream of launching the new next best thing before the competition. But even if you’re not about to branch out into a whole new sector, there are plenty of lessons we can learn from how start-ups run.
The principles that make them so successful can be applied to any business. This article will look at the fundamentals of start-up culture and how you can embrace them in your business.
The result will hopefully be a more agile and profitable venture that continually evolves and delights your customers. Let’s get started!
Put your customers at the heart of everything
This has to be where we start. Start-ups typically originate from identifying a burning customer need that isn’t being met by the products and companies out there. Finding a niche unfulfilled need and doing something about it.
You can apply the same principle to your business. What customer needs do you serve? Are you doing everything you can to meet that need as effectively as possible?
It’s easy for businesses to lose sight over time of what their purpose is. Make sure you continually evaluate how well your business caters to the needs of your customers.
Bring in expertise for the gaps in your own knowledge
Being a business owner means having to wear a lot of different hats, and sometimes it’s easy to get stuck in the idea that you, and you alone, need to take on every task your business faces.
The truth is that very few people have the capacity or capability to be an expert in every single area of running a business. Sometimes, it makes far more sense to bring in outside help.
Start-ups typically build small specialised teams from the very beginning. How many tech companies have started with programmers and then grown with the help of business experts and marketing professionals?
Whether it’s hiring an accountant or finding a business mentor, consider how an outside perspective and skill set could free up your time and energy to focus on the tasks you do best.
Don’t be afraid to invent and improve
What often sets start-ups apart is their willingness to try, and fail, again and again. Iteration and new ideas are second nature of them, and eventually, the successful ones strike gold.
There’s always room for innovation in a business. If you’ve been doing things the same way for a while, chances are there are better ways out there now.
Whether it’s the rise of artificial intelligence, automated stock keeping, or a smart scheduling solution like Findmyshift, look out for new ways to get the same tasks done faster and more easily.
Build flexibility with multi-skilled staff
The business landscape is constantly changing, and many start-ups come from the new spaces this disruption opens up.
While changing your business offering every few months likely isn’t feasible, being able to adapt to changing economic conditions, customer preferences, and consumer habits can keep you relevant even as everything around us feels unfamiliar.
Having employees who can work across multiple areas of your business, or who have the skills to exploit new opportunities, will keep you ready to react to changes.
Got a Gen Z on the payroll who knows all the latest social media platforms? Ask them where else you could be advertising. Launching a new website? Ask a promising employee to clue themselves up on virtual assistants and manage that side of the platform.
By investing in your employees, you’ll also show that you value them and make them more likely to stick around.
Dive into the data
Tech start-ups in particular are famed for using data to drive decisions. And in today’s digital world, you can track, record, and analyse almost every aspect of your business.
Is your floorplan efficient? Motion tracking can tell you.
Are your employees stealing time from you? A time clock system can get on top of that.
Delve into your own performance, your customers’ behaviour, the market you’re targeting, and much more.
Follow all these tips and your business can incorporate the best of agile start-up culture to keep you relevant in an ever-changing world.