Startups tend to be small, humble and full of potential. They’re blank slates that are capable of achieving many great things, but it’s important to take the right approach in order to avoid staying a startup forever.
This is one of the more frustrating things that a lot of new entrepreneurs struggle to deal with–the feeling that their company is going to stay stuck as a startup forever. Some people might enjoy this, but others might find it extremely annoying that they can’t grow out of their startup ways and become a fully-fledged small business.
So we’ve put together some advice to help you get your business off the ground and into the “real” business world. It’s time to take off the training wheels and start looking at the innocent startup habits that you have to grow out of sooner or later.
1. Stop taking on every job you can
It’s about time you start being more selective about the clients you work with. As an innocent startup, there’s a good chance that you were taking on every job you could and working with every client possible. It’s natural if you want to grow your business as quickly as possible, but once you’ve started to build a list of clientele and have some brand exposure, you don’t need to subject yourself to awful clients.
2. Stop relying on other services to do basic things
Whether it’s hosting your website, managing your cybersecurity or even doing your accounting, it’s time to take matters into your own hands. If you need a web host, invest in a cheap VPS to bridge the gap between outsourcing and hosting it on your own dedicated server.
If you don’t want to pay for an outsourced accountant, set up cloud accounting software and hire a freelance accountant to use the software that you specify. Now you can always switch to an in-house accountant once your business grows large enough.
3. Stop sticking to your comfort zone
It’s also a good idea to break out of your comfort zone to take on new and exciting challenges more often. This can be difficult for a lot of people, especially if you’re accustomed to the comfort zone that you’ve created. However, without taking risks and braving the unknown, you risk stagnating your business.
4. Stop thinking of yourself as a startup
It might be surprising to hear this, but a large number of people actually struggle with their startups because they keep thinking they’re a startup. The definition of a startup is a company that’s in its startup phase. Once you’ve started making sales and marketing your business, you’re technically no longer a startup.
If you keep neglecting the accomplishments of your business and the progress you’ve made, then it’s going to feel like your business has become stagnant. However, if you really take a look at how far you’ve come, you might realize that you’ve actually come a long way and have already grown out of the startup stages.
