10 Things To Know About Working In A Startup

Just a few short years ago, many online marketers were still going down the road of blogging and creating websites, courses, and sales funnels in order to promote products or services as an affiliate or owner. While there are still many people working off of this or a similar model today. There's also another offshoot of entrepreneurship, and that is the 'startup.'

The definition of a startup is different depending on who you ask, but most people have some sort of mental image. It's the tech company who believes they have the next Facebook. It's the idea that people think is so good they throw money at it before it's ever turned a profit based on pure potential alone.

If you find yourself ever making the move from a lone online marketing wolf to starting a small company off your own, especially in the startup space, here's what you should know:

- People will depend on you. For many, their employees will be the first one's they've ever had, and you need to be prepared to help manage not just your own goals and deadlines, but those of your workers as well.

- Things will get hectic. You will have to do more than you ever have before, and the legal hoops you may have to jump through might not be ones you had encountered when working on your own. It's important to know that you will likely spend many more hours on admin duties than before.

- You'll need to stem disorganization. In the midst of having to deal with the most you've ever dealt with before, you will need to also make sure that you don't fall victim to the startup syndrome in which you have no systems in place for accountability, collaboration among the team, etc.

- You'll need to provide fun. Yeah, this is an odd one. But you need to make sure you are teambuilding and fostering a positive environment. In the startup world, people are used to taking a hit on the salary their experience would normally command, but they also expect an enjoyable experience in which hard work can yield high rewards.

- Speaking of salaries... try to find people who are experienced by want something new, instead of just assuming you can only take super young and inexperienced employees because that's what you think you'll be able to pay for. You'd be surprised at the seasoned veterans you might find willing to work partially for equity.

- You have to play the long game. Even if you think that your idea has the possibility of absolutely explosiveness, you will likely need to need to wait quite some time to see a return. Make sure that you're able to financially and mentally ride out the storm!

- Investment isn't everything. Early on, there's a cycle of hunting for funding to survive until the next time you need to hunt for funding. Instead, try and work on using your sales skills to get self-sustainable as soon as possible.

Finally, there are no guarantees in the startup world, so make sure that you're ready to bend even these pointers to make them work for you!