Welcome To Startup Students

 When Virgin Records founder Richard Branson dropped our of school, his headmaster offered these parting words, “Congratulations, Branson.  I predict you will either go to prison or become a millionaire.” So what does that have to do with?  Nothing really, but I thought it was fairly interesting.

At any rate, as an entrepreneur, you will soon find that you simply cannot do it all yourself.  You’ve got to surround youself with the right people – but still maintain to stick to your guns.  Here are some sure-fire keys to success:

• Hire highly motivated individuals.  But be sure they’re motivated for the right reasons.  Those who are self motivated make the best candidates.
• As you surround yourself with great people, be sure to help them become even greater.  A little karma goes a long way.
• Create, maintain, and update as needed your vision and mission.  This creates a sense of clarity outlining your future direction.
• Create, maintain, and update your company values.  A strong corporate culture from the get-go (and then sticking with it) is often overlooked.
• Now that you have the right people on the bus, don’t let them get off!  Be sure to offer appropriate merit based rewards.
• As you grow and expand your business (and your personal knowledge), it would be a great idea to share the wealth.  Offer unique opportunities that allow your employees to garner more experience, but remember to keep your culture strong.  Now that you have highly experienced employees, you surely will want to hang onto them.
• Offering financial rewards is key, but did you know that offering praise is actually a much better motivator?  Make a point to always celebrate success, even if it’s relatively minor.

Class dismissed.