Among various lessons learned from two major events of our lifetime, the economic downturn of 2008 and the ongoing Covid19 pandemic, we learned the most impactful lesson to embrace change and take uncertainty in our stride. Only when you know to live with the uncertainty can you survive the odds stacked against you for reasons beyond your control. Daring to come out of your comfort zone should help you embrace uncertainty and sail in uncharted waters by taking up a job with a startup. The startup will be your learning ground to hone your skills and acquire new ones as you see from close how businesses survive and grow. The insights gathered while working for a startup provide invaluable experience in encountering challenging situations successfully without losing hope. You become an optimist, always hopeful of sighting the silver lining in the clouds.
Here are the reasons you should work in a startup at least once in your life.
The startup you work for teaches you to adapt to change and uncertainty
Although startups are tiny establishments than mature companies, these provide you a larger playing field to gather varied experiences in less time. Since start-ups have fewer resources and smaller teams, all employees have to do many jobs besides those attached to their respective roles defined in the job description. The stability of working for a large establish is absent for startups that often expose employees to chaos, doubt, and ambiguity as they face more uncertainties. Working in a company where the situation changes makes you mentally tough and prepare you to encounter challenges. You become more flexible and can read the situations better, which leads to better decision-making. Improving your ability to predict better will help control the outcome to survive the unknown by taking the hard knocks that enhance your perseverance.
Staying secure in an insecure environment
When you work for a startup company, you make a conscious decision to come out from your comfort zone and embrace insecurity. Startups face a lot of uncertainties, and thinking about job security in an organization that faces so much insecurity would be foolish. You must be ready to face the heat but, in the process, learn how to cope with pressure and stress and how to come up with creative or clever solutions to prevent falling off the precipice. You know to take risks and become bold even if you fail, as you can set your directions and move ahead. You become self-reliant and persistent while executing decisions swiftly and staying resilient while ducking the big waves to stay afloat and progress. Startup jobs are like extended training sessions that help you gather hands-on experience while taking control of your life.
Closely work with the company’s leaders
Scanty resources compel startups to have a flat organizational structure where each employee wears many hats and adapt to new roles according to the situation. Moreover, any lean startup has few employees, which results in a stressful work environment where everyone is working under pressure. A flat organization has minimal barriers, and you work directly under the eyes of the company’s leaders, often assisting them or making your contribution prominently visible. You will get the opportunity to learn new things about the finer details of a business, like the techniques of enhancing brand equity, scaling up a business, and how to manage prominent clients effectively.
You will learn various business management skills that can sow the seeds of entrepreneurship in you. You will learn the problem-solving techniques you could not understand while working for a bigger company where you played a limited role. Later in life, if you find it challenging to find a job, you could become an entrepreneur.
People can see your work
The scanty organization of startups gives employees a bigger stage where they assume various roles as demanded by the situations and circumstances. Your contribution to the organization becomes easily visible, which would never be possible in a bigger organization.
The startup will allow you to be proud of the work that everyone notices. It gives you a lot of self-confidence to perform imaginatively to overcome obstacles and go ahead in life.
