Is Your Business Really a Startup?
The common features that make a business a startup
The term startup has become the trendiest word of these days. Whenever we talk about business more often than not an example of a successful or failed startup will come up. Rightly so, as the rapid evolution of technology, the widespread use of digital surfaces, the emerging customer needs, and the related data is becoming common knowledge. Of course, there will be businesses and initiatives to leverage on them.
But just because the word is trending, it doesn’t mean that each small company that enters the market with an idea is actually a startup.
As a consultant, I have worked with startups and small businesses in different sectors and from what I have seen and heard lots of small businesses call themselves startups, even if they lack the main features that define a startup. The reasons vary from attracting better performing talent, to suggest a startup-culture or at times because initially, they fall under the startup category, yet with time they evolve into something less temporary and more sustainable.
Gathered from different definitions and approaches, here are the common features of startups — compared to small businesses:
