5 Tips to Make Your Startup Succeed
Today we are all more in touch with our passions. We chase them with conviction, we watch and listen to Tony Robbins, Tim Ferriss, Gary V and others. We get encouraged to turn our dreams into goals, goals into milestones, and milestones into actionable steps. There has never been a single way of succeeding in what you are passionate about. We congratulate you on your courage and perseverance to shape your story…and we wanted to share ours. Tembo Education is passionate about social enterprises where doing good and making money are not mutually exclusive. Being a start-up of six Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs, we share with you: 5 tips to help you succeed.
- Carry a notebook
Found a cool new app that takes notes? Stop yourself now! Grab a notebook and stick to that. We can’t stress enough the importance of carrying around a notebook at all times. Sure, there is Evernote, OneNote, Simplenote, with all kinds of attributes…and at times they are necessary. But why not both? We use Evernote to keep important data for our research. Asana is amazing at keeping our to-do items.
However, a hard notebook has multiple uses, whether it be to write down random creative thoughts to help you get to the next milestone or taking notes at a professional meeting without looking like you’re texting. The important part is, you are getting your thinking into writing. A significant benefit since there is plenty of research showing writing something down as opposed to typing helps you remember more effectively.
2. Have a project-based mindset
Being in a startup can create numerous challenges leading to an extensive list of to-do items. Even though you are the marketing person or the designer, you might also have to be the finance person, the operations person or more. This can be overwhelming and one can lose their focus. This is where having a project-based mindset can serve you well.
In essence, projects consist of prerequisite goals. You have to accomplish the prerequisite goal before trying to achieve the latter one. We have learned to keep our focus on one thing at a time. In fact, we have learned it from Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. We suggest you read “The One Thing” as well and it will help you prioritize and compartmentalize.
3. Increase your online presence
You will have many thought-provoking experiences in a startup. So capture these moments on social media. Give your audience and your fans an inside scoop of what you learn, what you preach, and who you are. Get your fans and the people that appreciate your work to talk about what your success means to them. Once you let your fans in, you might be amazed how much beauty your passion is bringing to this world. What is even more exciting is, if you do not know when or how to post them, simply subscribe to marketing service providers like Kissmetrics, Marketo, eMarketer and more.
4. Keep learning outside of the company
You learn a tremendous amount about your job while working in a startup, but do not let that take away from the importance of learning outside your company. When you are curious and inquisitive, you are adding tools to your skillset and increasing what you bring to the table. More tools mean you can attain your goals easier by taking action faster. Follow blogs/vlogs like the #AskGaryVeeShow, magazines such as Forbes-Startups, listen to podcasts, such as Freakonomics.
5. Maintain your health
You might be tempted to just microwave some Ramen or get a soda from the vending machine at the office, but resist. Want a decent meal delivered to your doorstep? Try some of the delicious meals at Blue Apron! Try buying a juicer and quickly get your daily veggie and fruit intake in one beverage. In fact, with new juicer technologies out in the market such as Juicero, you might not even need to leave your home. Cook in bulk, divide it up to meals for the upcoming week, store it in the freezer, and heat up when you need to.
Overall, just eat well, drink lots of water, and keep fit. You need to keep your mind refreshed otherwise your work will suffer. Get plenty of sleep. Studies have shown that lack of sleep leads to short-term memory loss. What’s the point of going through an immense learning experience if you’re going to forget it all?
