5 Effective Ways to Keep Your Startup Spirit Up

Market success followed by hyper-growth is the ultimate dream scenario for many startups. Unfortunately, it may be difficult for their leaders to simultaneously attract new investors, control the development and launch of new products, and supervise the recruitment of new employees. In this situation, many startups risk losing their original identity, culture, and spirit as they grow bigger and become more similar to major corporations. We have collected the five solutions that will allow you to keep your startup spirit up while also being effective as an organisation.  

1. Formalise your culture

While this may sound like one of the most ‘anti-startup’ ideas, outlining your values may be the most effective way to protect them. As your staff numbers may grow tenfold within the following several years, it may be difficult to retain your originality and organic workflow practices. Reflecting upon the things that make you unique and innovative may bring valuable insights into this sphere and allow you to introduce new employees into your startup culture more effectively and coherently. You may also ask your current employees to document and define their vision of the workflow and organisational principles and integrate these suggestions into your ‘formal’ corporate codes. However, keep in mind that values may change over time and flexibility and openness to new ideas are one of the primary elements of the startup spirit you are trying to preserve.

2. Be there for your staff

Workloads during the startup growth phase may be intense. However, one of the main characteristics of effective leaders is their readiness to discuss pressing issues with their employees and process their feedback. The startup spirit is largely created by working together and exchanging ideas in a small office environment. Maintaining this connectedness at a larger scale is critical for avoiding the ‘corporate rigidity’. One of the ways to engage new employees into these practices is to set an anonymous email for feedback or a corporate chat for discussing new ideas and workplace issues. This way, you can maintain a more horizontal scheme of your organisational hierarchies and facilitate knowledge-sharing.

3. Synchronise your vision

When starting up your business, you quickly get acquainted with the thought that a common vision is automatically shared by all company staff meeting on a daily basis and developing new goals together. Unfortunately, this may lead to dangerous ‘managerial myopia’ later on when you start hiring new members with different beliefs, mindsets, and ideas. Company-related storytelling, daily practices, and corporate codes may be a way to remind all employees about the common goals and values on a regular basis. This way, you can be certain that your original vision is retained during further organisational growth and everyone in your organisation is moving in the same direction.

4. Use non-monetary motivators

Non-monetary reward may become a wise solution for startup projects, which have limited financial resources and funding. However, it should not be viewed as a temporary supportive motivator. Many employees join startups searching for greater flexibility in working hours, remote employment options, learning opportunities, or exercise options. Google and Facebook can be perfect examples of employee benefits innovators offering concierge services, workplace gyms, advanced health insurance policies, and the right to directly purchase company stocks. While some of these opportunities may be too costly for your startup, you can still arrange for free workplace snacks, telecommuting, dog-friendly office spaces, or employee access to your corporate education accounts on Coursera or Udemy.

5. Promote independence and empowerment

The benefits that you offer should be closely aligned with your company vision and values. Talented specialists attracted by startup mentality usually seek inspiring workflow and social meaning of their jobs rather than a standardised collection of employee benefits offered by every corporation in the market. Such companies as Google and Timberland support these incentives by offering volunteering programmes or internal funding of employee projects. Airbnb grants $2,000 in travel coupons to its workers on an annual basis. Aligning your corporate vision with your values and unique employee incentives may be the key to keeping your startup spirit up no matter what. On the contrary, a formalised approach to these spheres instantly makes you seem ‘corporate-like’ and reduces job satisfaction levels.

Keeping your startup mentality is a complex task even for experienced entrepreneurs. While these recommendations may suggest some new ideas, you may still need to experiment with their combinations in order to identify what works best for you and your employees. Keep in mind that there is no clear-cut solution for being unique and building an employer brand. However, you should see the roadblocks on this way as important challenges allowing you to develop your personal vision and values rather than annoying hindrances. In the words of Zappos CEO, “Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you”.