When you enter the workforce you have a lot of choices. You’re also making value judgments without a whole lot of information. Where do I apply? What job do I take? What kind of company should I join?
The start-up is the sexy choice, it’s new, unproven and risky, perfect for a young single person fresh out of school. The new business is still risky, but for the most part people have proven that laundromats/hot dog stands/car washes can make money. The established business is solid, barring something unforeseen it will still be chugging along .
Kevin Swan is a former beekeeper, he’s also the president and CEO of Nexopia, a social networking site based in Edmonton (a company profiled on Unlimited). It might be a little odd to mention that he’s a former beekeeper but it’s a central feature in his blog Once a Beekeeper. There he has a great post going over the difference between a start-up and a new business. His three main points are:
+ You’re going to face extraordinary uncertainty
+ The people around you matter more than ever
+ The company probably won’t be generating any revenue right away
You’re also going have to be adaptable, need to love learning on your own and you’re going to have to be prepared for more responsibility and ownership of your work than other, more typical companies.
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Sarah Blue is in charge of market and community outreach at crowdsourcing start-up Chaordix. She’s a start-up veteran, working in the space for the past seven years. If you have the following characteristics you might be interested in working for a start-up.
+ You’re driven by possibility, not stability
Stability is cool and I wouldn’t knock anyone for wanting to know where their next paycheck is coming from. However, entrepreneurs love potential earnings and the possibility of new ideas coming to life far more than what’s going on today.
+ You have a massive ego
This is two-fold. 1. You don’t start something unless you think you can do it better than anyone else. 2. To wake up every day and keep on truckin’ – you need a healthy dose of self-confidence.
+ You live to work, not work to live
Working at an established business 40 hours a week and not thinking about work while you enjoy life can be very rewarding. It can also be mind-numbing for entrepreneurs. The desire to overcome an unending stream of challenges, the need to eat/sleep/breath your work and the passion to believe that you just might change the world are all signs that punching out at 5pm is not an option.
Tags: Business, career advice, start-up, workplace
Great post. As someone who works at a startup I can definitely attest to Kevin Swan’s 3 points – my job is so different from the day-to-day, and it really does matter who you work with – these are the people you are around 24/7, and you need to be able to rely on them.
I love the idea of being driven by possibility, not stability – who needs to be stable when you know that you’re part of something bigger than yourself, something that could be huge someday.
I suggest working at a startup to anyone out there!