The Importance of Culture When Starting Up With most startups just concerned with surviving, how important is culture?

By Kip Tindell

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Q: Most of the startup are only focused on one thing: survival. How important is culture to a startup?
-Kenny Lee Chia Chern

A: I love what famed management consultant Peter Drucker has said, "culture eats strategy for breakfast."

Culture actually drives the value of the business. Culture and the bottom line are not, and should not, be at odds. Having a stronger culture is not a sacrifice to profits. In fact, it's quite the contrary: The companies that are best thought to have strong, conscious cultures and represent the tenets of "Conscious Capitalism" -- a model focused on advancing humanity, while using established business principles -- are shown to outperform the S&P 500 Index 14 to 1 over 15 years.

Related: For Zady, It's Quality Over Quantity

Relationships between your stakeholders – how they feel about each other – is a huge part of how a company's culture manifests itself…of how the company "feels." And when you've developed strong, mutually beneficial relationships with vendors, customers and employees from the start, all of these stakeholders we'll conspire to assist you. They want to see you win. They trust you and you trust them. They're even more vested in your success and want to be a part of it. These actions lead to a stronger bottom line.

Related: The 7 New Business Facts Of Life For Entrepreneurs

And laying the groundwork for a strong, unified, communication-driven, supportive and fun culture at the start is much easier to do than, say, turning the barge around in a river once the company has grown and expanded. Not that over the years a company's culture can't and won't evolve…it will and it should. But if it has grounding from the start, if it binds people together, you're setting the company up for greater success in the future.

Operating this way not only enriches your life and the lives of the people you do business with, but if all you want to do is make as much money as humanly possible then I would submit to you, that this is the way to do it.

Related: A Look Into Entrepreneurial Approaches to Social Change

Kip Tindell

Author and CEO of The Container Store

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Side Hustle

This Gen Zer's Stylish Side Hustle Earns About $20,000 a Month and Paid Off His Parents' $200,000 Debt: 'I Enjoy the Hands-Off Nature'

Ray Cao went from working as a barista for $8 an hour to being a successful seller on online marketplace StockX.

Devices

This Grade-A Refurbished 2-in-1 Chromebook Is Just $100 This Week Only

Save significantly on this dynamic second generation device with 4GB of RAM and a near 12-inch screen.

Marketing

It's Time to Clean Up Your Act — How to Manage Your Reputation in the Era of AI

Question: Where's the best place to hide a dead body (or a damaging article about your brand)? Answer: On page 2 of Google search — well, until now.

Money & Finance

5 Ways to Make Money Online in 2024

Here are five great ways to capitalize on the internet's vast potential for generating income in 2024.

Living

Want to Succeed? Learn to Say 'No'

As a first-year founder and entrepreneur, saying "yes" to every opportunity can hurt your chance of survival.