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Stephanie Winans

Business & Marketing Strategy Consulting

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startups

8 Reasons #StartupLife Might Be For You

April 19, 2016 by Stephanie Winans Leave a Comment

Wondering what it might be like to leave corporate America and work for a startup (or start your own!)? Here are 8 pros of working for a startup (otherwise known as why #startuplife is awesome).

1. You’ll learn more (and fast). Working for a startup allows you to rapidly expand your professional skills. You’re routinely encouraged to take on responsibilities that stretch your existing experience, giving you a chance to learn new skills. At larger companies, you’re often restricted to duties that speak to your existing skill set. While it’s nice to stick to what you’re good at, it’s hard to get good at new things in this environment, which stunts your long-term professional growth.

2. You’ll feel good. Working for a startup is personally rewarding. There is something magical about building a company from the ground up: when it succeeds, you feel ownership in that success. You can’t get that feeling of ownership and pride from working on “someone else’s baby.”

3. You’ll own it. Speaking of feelings of ownership, you might get equity as part of your compensation package. Many startups give managers equity to better align incentives and reward hard work.

4. You’ll be challenged. If you’re in a career rut, working at a startup can refresh you. Fueled by motivation to achieve early milestones, there will be no time for boredom or complacency.

Pros of working at Startups

5. You’ll get creative. Working for a startup ignites your creativity. It takes creativity to carve out space for a new brand in an existing market, or to educate consumers on a new product if you’re disrupting a market. When your budget is lower than the competition’s, you’ll resort to innovative ideas to win.

6. You’ll be passionate. People work at startups because they love the idea or are moved by the problem the product solves. Who doesn’t want to work for something they believe in?

7. You’ll bond with your team. There’s a feeling of “in this together” that comes with building something new. Because startups typically run lean, managers are careful to hire for personality and fit and not experience or aptitude alone. Co-workers you actually like? Yes, please.

8. You’ll love the knowledge sharing. Tackling early problems requires brainstorming. Because there are rarely duplicitous roles and startups often foster a judgment-free environment, your co-workers will teach you what they know.

At Bundoo, professional growth is a big focus. We believe that skill building is one of the best things a startup can offer. We created Bundoo U, a meeting where a different Bundite teaches the team a skill each week. We vote on topics for each person, and the team member gives an interactive presentation on the winning topic when their turn comes around. These meetings not only teach us new skills that may help later in our careers, but they also help the team understand the value other Bundites and departments carry.

Not convinced? Tell me why in the comments.

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: creativity, small business, startups

3 Attributes That Make A Successful Entrepreneur

January 12, 2016 by Stephanie Winans Leave a Comment

Attributes of entrepreneurs
Photo credit: wocintechchat/Flickr

I was asked on a panel recently about the most important attributes of an entrepreneur. When I think about the people who succeed at building their own businesses—not the anomaly, front of Time magazine entrepreneur but the everyday successful entrepreneurs—there are three attributes that come to mind.

Drive. Strategic thinking. Passion. And you need all three working in concert. So what happens when you’re missing one of these?

Without strategic thinking, you’re the crazy one going on and on about your idea but getting nowhere. You don’t look at the big picture and struggle to push through ideation to execution. You get stuck by making poor decisions. People probably duck into doorways when they see you coming.

Without passion you can’t sell your business to anyone—to end users, to talent for hire, to advertisers, to investors. We all fall in love with a story, and if you can’t tell it, then you’ve lost your audience and your business, too.

Without drive you just won’t survive. Have you heard the old adage, “Entrepreneurs are the crazy people who work 100 hours a week so they don’t have to work 40 hours for someone else”? Entrepreneurs and the talent who support them in #startuplife work their tails off. If you aren’t intrinsically motivated, you’re probably better suited for a 9-5 job at an established company.

Drive and passion typically come along with a good idea: it’s why people quit their day jobs to pursue their own businesses. It’s the strategy part that you have to watch out for. Finding a mentor early on can help ensure you aren’t wearing blinders and that you’re creating a plan that maximizes your chance for success.

What would you add to the attribute list?

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: entrepreneurs, startups

The 1 Question Entrepreneurs Live and Die By

December 22, 2015 by Stephanie Winans Leave a Comment

Entrepreneurs Post-it

Entrepreneurs face many questions each day, but there is one question that is as important post-launch as it is the moment the new business idea is conceived.

The Question in Ideation: How will I make money?

So you’ve encountered a real world problem and you have an idea on how to solve it. How do you know that your new business idea is a business and not a hobby? The answer to the question “How will I make money?” will tell you everything you need to know. If you’re building a for-profit business, define how you’ll generate revenue and a path to profitability. If it’s a not-for-profit you’re developing, outline how you’ll get funding. If you can’t answer this question clearly, then you need to re-evaluate your idea.

Having a clear path to revenue at the beginning of your ideation phase will keep you from making the wrong decisions and from wasting time and money on inconsequential things that won’t impact the business.

The Question in Daily Operations: How will this affect how I make money?

The “How will I make money?” question morphs to ““How will this affect how I make money?” once your business is operational. Asking yourself how a decision at hand affects your revenue streams will ensure you’re making choices that have the long-term health of the business in mind. With new startup Founders and CEOs making hundreds of decisions a day, it’s easy for this focus to get lost.

I have a post-it on my computer as a reminder. If post-its aren’t your thing, I’ve heard reverse forehead tattoos work, too.

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: business strategy, entrepreneurs, revenue, startups

Why Hiring for Startups Is So Hard

February 14, 2014 by Stephanie Winans Leave a Comment

You draft a job description and make a list of qualifications. You start the interview process and realize what you already knew: you won’t find one person who “has it all.”

In a mature company, you can hire to strike a balance among employees in a department, playing off weaknesses and strengths. Potential candidate Steve nails every qualification except social advertising experience? No problem, because your Amanda is a pro. Oh. Wait. You’re a young startup? 

Hiring for Startups
Photo credit: bpsusf/Flickr via Creative Commons

That “marketing department” may consist of one (or gasp! two!) employees. There is no one who has a strength to balance that new hire’s weakness. There is no “Amanda.” You’re rolling the dice on one person- Steve. And you’re rolling the dice to determine which of the qualifications from that job description are the least important when you really need them all.

Hiring is tough for startup managers. Almost like choosing the person you’re going to marry. Who will stick with you through thick and thin? Who will commit even when the going gets tough? Who will bring out the best in you (your team)?

For startup companies, every person involved has the opportunity to make a big difference in the business. And every person involved has the potential to pull it down.

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: hiring, management, startups

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