Startup Culture: What it is & How to Build It for profit in business 2022
“Startup culture” has a number of advantages, including easier recruiting, longer employee retention, higher employee motivation, greater productivity, and fewer mistakes.
We’ll talk about startup cultures, their importance, and how they can be built in this article.
What is Startup Culture?
Let’s start with the culture.
It is possible to summarize an organization’s culture in its values and interactions with its members. Arts, education, institutions, and entertainment are based on these values and interactions.
Similar to that, your work culture or company culture is a reflection of your shared values within the organization and the way employees interact with each other.
The culture of the workplace consists mainly of the underlying or unspoken psychology of the organization, what it stands for, and its relationships among persons within the organization. How do startups define their culture? In contrast to an established corporation, startups have relatively new work cultures that strive to break down the obstacles to growth that are often found in more established institutions. Entrepreneurial culture is known for being creative, laid back instead of rigid, and passionate.
Startup Culture Characteristics
The following four factors define a startup culture that feels ideal:
- A passion is what keeps work from feeling like work and what allows us to work long hours without feeling tired. The mission is what defines the business and is what motivates the employees.
- The startup’s personality is what makes it unique – what makes it stand out from the crowd.
- An organization’s agility is its ability to move information and knowledge at a speed that significantly increases its productivity. This factor is more obvious since it can be seen in how workers work, how offices are organized, and how brainstorming sessions are conducted.
- Authenticity is defined as the right to pursue one’s own identity in freedom and respect. Bureaucracy tends to have strict decision-making processes and processes for everything. However, startup culture values are the exact opposite.
Likewise, startup culture has been criticized for being too laidback, both in a positive and a negative way. Perhaps you’re picturing people playing foosball and sitting in bean bag chairs in flip flops. It is culture, not the environment, that determines why these types of things work.
Culture is not synonymous with the work environment. It will not solve your work culture problem to add a foosball table and free snacks, but it will define your working environment, which is determined by the physical characteristics of the workspace.
The startup work culture differs from the working environment, but it is nonetheless essential. The working environment can either facilitate or hinder culture.
How easy is it to engage the people you need to in your workplace? Do you feel drained or energized when you look at the lighting in your workplace? How about confined?
Corporate Culture vs Startup Culture
Startup company culture is often questioned in terms of how it differs from corporate culture.
In addition to the way corporations and startups do business, their decision-making processes, the size of their workforce, and many other factors differ, these factors have an effect on their corporate cultures.
Object-oriented and goal-oriented organizations differ considerably in their cultures, as can be seen in the following illustration.
What is the significance of startup culture?
Businesses are affected by the startup culture in many different ways.
Productivity is the most pronounced effect. With an excellent startup culture, employees are more motivated. Therefore more productivity and fewer mistakes will be made.
Having unhappy employees will adversely affect the quality of your work. Collaboration and communication will not be possible if your employees have a bad relationship with each other.
As an added benefit of excellent startup culture, your business is also likely to be easier to recruit, your employees will be more loyal, and your customer reputation will be enhanced.
According to Gary Vaynerchuck, an author, entrepreneur, and speaker:
In a nutshell, your company culture will either promote growth or rot it from the inside out.
What are the responsibilities for setting it?
From top to bottom, it goes down.
A company’s culture depends on having the right people in charge. A startup C.E.O. or founder is responsible for making sure the people placed in management roles have the necessary skills to provide effective leadership and build a viable startup culture.
It is as essential to prepare for management positions as for any other part. In addition to basic instructions, guidelines, information, and encouragement for your company, you will also need additional training to improve your company.
The best way to manage your employees is by ensuring your leaders are influential. Taking responsibility can help you reduce turnover. Taking responsibility can help reduce underperformance. Consider how you can help everyone reach their potential instead of looking at everyone as a problem.
How to Create a Successful Startup Culture?
- The Right People Must Be Hired
Your hiring is probably based on who you believe is the best fit for the job; however, no role exists in a vacuum. The purchasing manager will work with others on the team if they are hired.
How would you describe your team? It’s essential to bring on people who are compatible with the type of culture and team that you’re creating.
Finding the best-qualified candidates or best resumes is not sufficient to hire the right people. Make sure they fit in with the rest of your team and consider their emotional and physical health.
- Care for Your Employees
As part of building your company culture, you should care for your employees. You must genuinely care about the success of your team members once you have hired them. They will be unlikely to put much effort into the work you are asking of them if they do not think you value their work.
It is not enough that your employees want to do a good job; you also want them to want to deliver the best results. What can we do to motivate them toward providing the best results?
In Gary Vaynerchuck’s book “The Ambition of a Human-Based Company”, people will go the distance if they can see he is engaged in them and knows he cares.
Empathy is his guiding principle. Everyone knows that you care about them when they know you care about what you have to say.
- Leadership by example
Despite its cliche status, leading by example is often overlooked. Make sure to give your employees a harsh response if they make a mistake if you want them to be rude to each other.
Top-down management is the key to positive work culture. When people make a mistake, be patient, kind, and graceful (if they don’t, you need to fix it).
- Recognize the accomplishments of others
Motivational, driven individuals want to keep going until they reach the top. Nevertheless, some team members need to be recognized for their work and accomplishments more often than others.
The time and effort they put into this might be a piece of the puzzle for you, but it is their work and time. It is unlikely that people will continue to do their best if they don’t feel appreciated.
- Invest in Your Team’s Relationships
Build relationships with your employees by learning about them. Everyone faces challenges in life. Be aware of people who might be struggling and check in with them. Some people might need extra time off, and others might want to leave early.
If you want to know when someone is not performing at their best, you need to establish connections with their team members. In order to become fully present and commit 100 per cent to every minute they are on the clock, you must build relationships.
- Identify your startup mission.
A business’ mission is its most crucial element. Defining your company’s identity and assessing how you operate to make your customers succeed will help you determine why you are relevant today.
Even before you hire your first employee, you must define the company’s culture because culture starts from the top and spreads to the bottom.
Startup Culture in India: Growth and Evolution
For a couple of years now, startups and unicorns have been in the news. It is evident that this decade will be remembered as the decade of startups. Startups have risen and fallen all over the world. Indian startups are no different.
Many startups like Oyo, Zomato, and Flipkart have been unable to survive and have had to shut down. The startup ecosystem in India, however, has grown quite rapidly over the past few years. It took a number of years to reach this level of growth, and you can read more about how this was done in the following paragraphs.
India’s Startup Evolution
As a starting point, let’s know what a startup is and how India came to be a hub for startups. Starting up a business is a way to solve problems that have never been addressed before or to answer issues that already exist in a better way than they have been done in the past.
Many great startups have come from Silicon Valley in the U.S., including Facebook, Google, and many others. However, there has been a significant change in dynamics around the world recently, and it has happened very quickly. Chinese startups have even moved to Shanghai and Indian startups to Bangalore.
India is ranked third in the global list of nations with the most prominent startup ecosystems, right behind the United States and the United Kingdom, and it appears that growth won’t slow down. The number of new tech startups in our country increased by approximately 1300 during the year 2019, with the number of startup companies in the country totalling 8900-9300.
Trade and business have been ingrained in Indian culture throughout history. Our history textbooks are full of examples of this. Throughout history, there are few touchpoints that have helped accelerate startup growth.
We can probably say that a significant turning point in this growth occurred in the 1980s if we are trying to chart out a rough timeline. Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, introduced Liberalization of the Computer Industry during the 1980s, and in the same decade was launched N.A.S.S.C.O.M.
In India, the digital industry grew tremendously as a result.
The year 2008 is also worth noting since that was after the Great Recession. Economies around the world were brought to their knees, and companies began laying off workers. There was a constant fear among employees all over the world of losing their jobs.
In turn, this affected I.T. people in India. Many who were fired from their jobs looked for newer opportunities, and many took the step forward into starting their own business. Many famous startups in India, like PolicyBazaar, Zomato, etc., were founded during this period.
In India, startups haven’t stopped since then. They have been proliferating. The reason for these startups’ rapid growth in our country must also be understood.
India’s startup growth reasons
Growth in startups in India has been gradual in nature, and there are several reasons why India has become a viable environment for startups. Below are some of the primary reasons why:
- Talent in the pool
Talent is abundant in our country. Most of India’s population is young. India has a great deal of potential in terms of talent. Colleges and business schools graduate millions of students each year. As a result, a large number of students are starting their own ventures with their knowledge and skill set, and that is helping to spur India’s startup growth. Many of these talents were previously attracted only by large companies, but things are beginning to change now.
- Setting up a business is not expensive.
Rather than being capital-intensive, India is labour-intensive. Moreover, workers here are very cheaply priced. Thus, the startup costs here are relatively low compared to other countries. Consequently, several multinational corporations have established plants and offices in India for the same reason. In addition, the startup owners were able to capitalize on this factor.
- Boost from the government
Several schemes launched by the government in the past decade have contributed to the rapid growth of startups in India. Entrepreneurship was boosted by programs such as StartUp India and StandUp India. By providing subsidies to new sectors or certain rural areas, the government tries to encourage ventures of all kinds.
- Internet usage is increasing.
In India, the population is the second highest in the world, and affordable telecom services like Reliance Jio have significantly increased internet usage. Now even rural areas have access to the Internet. Companies in India can rely on this easy access to the Internet to expand their business. India has the third-largest internet user base after China. The Internet can be used not only to spread the word about a new business but also to gather and keep track of data. Communications have become more accessible. Startup growth in India can also be attributed to this.
- Technological advancements
Technology has also contributed to the growth of startups in India. Many businesses have proliferated due to this. Companies have become more efficient, rapid, and quick due to technology. In the past few years, software and hardware have significantly developed, making it possible to store data and record it quickly. Now because of the trend around artificial intelligence and black-chain, many new startups are considering these options as well.
- Financing options available
The traditional methods of getting funds for a new business model, such as borrowing from a bank or borrowing from friends and family, existed earlier. The concept of this has now changed. Today, there is a wide range of options. Angel investors, venture capitalists, seed investors, and others can be approached by entrepreneurs. Additionally, easy access and a wide range of possibilities have helped fuel the growth of the startup ecosystem in India.
Conclusion
Due to the current Coronavirus pandemic, we may think that the future for startups is now bleak. Nevertheless, this should not cause us to worry. It has been seen in the past that many people were forced to think outside the box during the Great Recession.
As a result, a number of inspiring startups were born, some of which are now giants. These companies were all established during the recession, including WhatsApp, Instagram, Zomato, Uber, etc. Another good thing about this pandemic could be that it prompted an entrepreneur to come up with the perfect idea for the next great thing.
Also, the H-1B visa situation introduced by Donald Trump’s administration is causing fear among many Indians in the U.S. Most of these Indians work in the Information Technology Industry. Possibly, this could encourage some talent from abroad to move back to India, and this, in turn, could increase the startup scene in India.
As technology advances at a breakneck pace, it will lead to the growth of more startups in the country, and with the support of the government, many people will be encouraged to start up their own businesses. At least for now, it appears that startup companies are on a good path.
