These Things are Quintessential in the Growing Stages of Your Startup Provision of transportation to employees is one such perk will only benefit your startup in the long run by helping attract and retain employees, displaying your support for work-life balance

By Meghna Agarwal

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During the initial days of every startup, the challenges and the possibilities seem equally endless. While the journey itself will be different for each company, it remains that you will need to identify certain priorities and work towards achieving them or resolving them. Doing this will help determine the direction the success of your business will take.

1. Build the Right Team

Your employees will form the foundation of your company. It cannot be overemphasized how solid this foundation needs to be. Do thorough interviews; find members that will bring creativity, innovation, and business acumen to your team. The right candidates for you are the ones that understand the importance of the product you are building, the ones who can understand the needs of the customer, the ones who think ahead of the curve and will work towards actualizing visions. To achieve this, you will need to bring on board experts who can contribute to your vision and elevate it at the same time. Therefore, you need to find the right person for the right job.

2. Establish your Values and Culture

Being a startup means that you get to define for yourself what the core values of your company will be, and what the culture that your employees and customers alike will be a part of is going to be. Your vision cannot simply be to make money. It's uninspiring and doesn't necessarily motivate your employees the way that being a part of something unique and incredible will. Your core values should be a part of your everyday life. The same goes for your culture. Your culture should encompass the vision and values of your company. It should be reflective in your collective language, behavior, and habits.

If you set yourself up as a place where bean bag chairs and ping pong tables are the essence of who you are, then that doesn't constitute as culture even though most companies confuse it for the same. These things should merely be representative of aspects of the culture. For instance, if you hold work-life balance in importance, then the ping pong table could be a way of demonstrating that. Whereas if strict adherence to deadlines is what's important to your company then the ping pong tables will do nothing to highlight that.

3. Find Practical Workspaces

Whether you are a small team at the early stages of starting up, or you've been around the block for a while, a good office space that suits your needs is important. This is the shared space for your team, where you ideate and bring to life those ideas. There is a lot to be said for a team that works together in the same space than one that is scattered, working out of homes or elsewhere where personal interaction isn't the norm. Especially in the beginning stages, when your startup is likely to be on a fixed budget, setting aside a large sum for a traditional workplace will not be possible. This is when shared or flexible workspaces come into play. They not only allow you to accommodate your team under one roof but could also help you meet businesses that you could work alongside with. With a variety of options now being made available, you can pick and choose the option that best suits your budget and preference. Remember, your space should also be reflective of your scalability pattern.

4. Provide the Right Kind of Perks and Benefits

Though benefits should not be the first thing on your to-do list as a startup, they are a requirement at a certain point in your company's growth as it demonstrates to your employees that you appreciate the work they do. Perks could come in various forms.

Provision of transportation to employees is one such perk will only benefit your startup in the long run by helping attract and retain employees, displaying your support for work-life balance, minimizing payroll taxes, and establishing your reputation as an environment-friendly startup. Nowadays, it doesn't even have to be your concern on how to go about providing this solution. There are shared workspaces in existence that include the transportation component, and this means that all you must do is sign up for this service and they will take care of the rest.

Take care too to equip them with the right tools. Ensure that the laptops they will be using are installed with all the necessary software, that they receive tech support whenever necessary, that their productivity isn't affected because the machine at their disposal is outdated.

Another important perk is furnishing the office with proper chairs and desks. With sitting being touted as the new smoking, and back injuries becoming something of a norm among office workers, good chairs and desks become an important component of all offices. This will also ensure prevention of loss of productivity due to sickness.

Providing food in your office ensures the daily dilemma of what to eat and where from, does not take place. It saves on time and effort and employees appreciate the act.

5. Understand the Importance of Collaborations

Whether it is as a member of the industry that you are a part of, or as a member of the shared workspace you occupy, it is important to build your reputation and to be a contributing member of the community. To promote your brand and product, it is imperative that you connect and communicate with the stakeholders involved. This may be the senior management of other startups or potential job seekers, but it is your responsibility to be a presence that is seen and a voice that is heard. Members of a community are also known for the work they do together. It doesn't have to be work in the sense of business, but any collaboration you have with others is what matters. You should have a good sense of wanting to take the community forward, demonstrate a spirit of generosity and hold in regard the same values.

As with most scenarios in the business world, there is hardly a one-size-fits-all solution. But there are steps that can be taken to ensure your startup stands the best chance for success possible

Meghna Agarwal

Co-founder & Chief Creative Officer, IndiQube

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