Have you and your pals always dreamed about starting a business together? If you’re
planning on launching a startup together, having a supportive team of people you know
means a lot. However, it’s all fun and games until you actually get down to business. If you
don’t have a structured plan, your dream can become a nightmare! So, what can you do to
prevent that?
To start your business with a small team of people, you need to prepare for ups and downs.
The startup phase is beautiful however it is certainly challenging. Since you and your
employees come from different backgrounds with different skills and knowledge, you need to
be tolerant towards one another. Here are a couple of tips that can help you get started!
1. Create a shared vision and mission
When working in a team, having a shared mission and vision is essential. If you’re an
executive director of the company, you need to set the correct atmosphere with your team to
start a business. Ensure your team knows what kind of culture you want to build and what are
your plans for the future. How can that help you?
If an entire team works towards the same goals, chances are fallouts and misunderstandings
are less likely to happen. Creating a shared vision and mission can be more fun with different
brainstorming apps and software. When the entire team wants to succeed, a shared mission
and vision will keep the team focused on the final goal. On top of that, it creates a healthier
work culture for all employees.
2. Find out everyone’s strengths
To achieve maximum productiveness, you need to discover everyone’s strengths. You may
have a team of experts, but if they are working in the wrong positions, their talents will go to
waste. So, ensure you know what is everyone good at.
For instance, if you’re considering starting a fashion business, a team with a wide range of
different skills and abilities should be your go-to choice! Make sure you have a team member
who’s magnificent at sales, the one who masters marketing, as well as the team member who
is willing to analyze recent trends using Google Analytics and other handy tools, study
competition, and discover the best ways to breakthrough.
3. Define the roles
Each successful business has strictly defined roles. This means that employees know exactly
what their tasks are, which minimizes confusion and conflict. On top of that, having defined
roles makes the entire process of startup easier, as everyone knows what the main goal of
their work process is. How can you define roles for your team?
Having a small team means you don’t really have a large talent pool to choose from.
Therefore, detect your employees’ strengths and create their tasks and roles according to
that. Use different apps and technologies to make assigning tasks easier. Ensure there is no
overlapping between the roles as it may result in confusion. Additionally, when delegating
tasks, give clear guides for each assignment.
4. Train and educate your team
To be fair, your team probably won’t be successful straight away. Building a startup and
creating a company culture takes time, so don’t be hard on your employees. Instead, take
time to train and educate your team to improve and perfect their skills. How can you do so?
Come up with a training plan and stick to it. Ensure it covers all the hard skills your employees
need for their jobs. Dig in the core of the industry you’re operating within, and if possible, bring
an expert from different fields of industry to educate your team. On the other hand, you can
purchase different courses online or use Udemy to broaden your team’s knowledge.
Additionally, if you’re using special programs, providing your employees with in-depth training
on how to use them is essential!
5. Work on in-team communication
Did you know that more than 80% of startups fail within the first year of their launch?
Numerous are the reasons behind that fact, however, one of the most common is bad
in-house communication. With unstable communication within the team, you’re risking things
falling apart right from the beginning. So, you need to pay special attention to the way you
cooperate with teammates.
Since you’re all working on the same project together, your goals align. Therefore, conveying
important messages to each member of your team is vital for the startup. Focus on employee
communication and the means of sending your messages across. Having an app or a
platform where the entire team can read the newest info, updates, or simply chat is the future
of every business. So, stay one step ahead of the game!
6. Consider team-building exercises
It’s time to put your differences aside and focus on building an unstoppable team. Even
though you all work on different assignments and come from different backgrounds, you’re all
working towards the same goal! So, organize some team-building activities right from the
start.
For example, you can eat dinner together on Tuesdays, and go bowling every first weekend of
the month. Or you can have some online fun and play Kahoot together. On the other hand, if
you prefer something more formal, assertiveness training or leadership course can be
extremely entertaining and beneficial ways of coming together. It’s all up to your preferences,
not all team buildings have to include extreme sports.
Wrapping up
Starting a business with a small team can be both challenging and beneficial. The important
thing is to set your differences aside and learn to work together towards the same goal. There
will be obstacles you’ll have to overcome, however, if you do it as a team, it will be a piece of
cake!
Author bio:
Stella van Lane is a Sydney based mom and a passionate writer in love with coffee,
chocolate, music, books and good vibes. Her top interests are business, technology, health
etc.
Follow her on Twitter
