Start-ups are the newly evolving business ventures consisting a business model aimed at making profits by selling a product or service. A good business plan and teamwork are the important requisites for a startup to yield success. In order to launch a new enterprise, raising money through investors is a challenge. But a bigger challenge for the newly set up business lies in making a mark in the competitive market. Since start-ups are the fresh ventures, they allow their employees to work independently in their fields of expertise , develop new ideas and initiate new approaches without oodles of constraints.
Imagine, you have a couple of offers in your hand. One from a reputed MNC with a “tasty” package. The other from a visionary startup with a lower salary but with a mission to challenge the status quo. Your left brain tells you to take up the MNC job and chuck the startup. But, your ‘guts’ tell you to take the plunge and dive into uncertainty, i.e., go ahead and work with the startup. There can be some unquestionable reasons to go for a startup job instead of a standard corporate one. Working for a startup mostly involves working with a very small team whose number would be in single digits. Each member of the small group often has unique skill-sets and expertise . This motivates each employee to perform with a feeling of responsibility and interest and be the owner of his own work, unlike a corporate job.
Besides responsibility, a startup culture is constant fun and hustle. The company can have parties for every new sale the company makes or when a new employee joins the boat. Most of all, there is a feeling of being in a family where one does not need to worry much about ‘corporate etiquettes’. It’s hard to calculate how much one learns in a startup. It’ll shape one into a business professional with varied qualities rather than a corporate professional with a limited set of skills.
If one is joining an early-stage startup, he will probably receive some ownership in the company in the form of ESOPs. This enables him to think of it as his own company which in turn gives him the drive to act towards its progress. No MNC will provide stock options to an employer unless one is hired for the C-level or V-level.
Start-ups will hear your opinion and will act on it as well. In a startup, one’s thoughts on a subject are always respected irrespective of the domain. No one is confined to his own domain. There can be better understanding of how the business works and work be aligned accordingly. Whereas in an MNC, one will have knowledge on a need-to-know basis.
Constant interactions with the top management, investors, thought-leaders, mentors and the startup community will ultimately contribute towards one’s personal growth. Needless to say, the essential part one is playing in startup will help one become a better version of himself, every day.