Surviving employment in a startup

I’ve been amongst the first few employees of many companies throughout my professional career in Australia as well as during my years in London. It’s not easy and it often feels like a roller coaster ride but it does make you a better employee.

Here’s what has worked successfully for me over the years:

• Take ownership of the business goals and objectives from day one and believe in the long term vision of the company. If you don’t, you are in the wrong place and your time will be wasted as you are not contributing authentically.
• Be flexible! The day you plan is most often not the day that you’ll have in a startup. You’ll get pushed and pulled in many different directions, sometimes all within the same hour by several different people.
• Dedicate time to create processes to form a strong foundation for the work you have been employed to do. This enables the startup to go from strength to strength off the back of clearly communicated processes, tools and guidelines. Without them, what do you have to lean on and be reminded of when the waters get choppy and murky? (Navigating startup waters is never smooth sailing)
• Have a voice. I share this with great caution because it’s critical you know when to speak, how you speak and why you are speaking.
• But first, listen. Listen with your eyes and ears and ensure you are contributing and executing to the point you are confident you have learnt and experienced enough to warrant a voice.
• Productivity speaks louder than words. Above all things, be productive and create your own value to the company from the beginning. Of course everyone is replaceable so never think you are invaluable because when you do, dynamics can rapidly change.
• Understanding your role and responsibilities is key to maintaining a harmonious balance in the dynamics of what is generally a very small team made up of very capable individuals.
• Don’t be too hard on yourself. I’ve added this in because no matter how many startups I’ve been involved in, I constantly battle the mind game of trying to be more productive, more useful, analyse where costs can be cut, identify inefficiency, lack of system structure and ways communication can be improved. Unless you are the CEO, your role will never include these things but being conscious of how the business can be compromised is a quality I would look for in an employee.
• Learn and evaluate daily so you can bring more to the table tomorrow.

At the end of the day, it’s not my business and it’s not my dream so there is always compromise. I just strive to be a critical part of the team to help drive the company towards success whilst applying my past experience and current skills and adopting new learnings as best as I can along the way.