5 Things You Need To Know Before Joining A Start-Up

What is it like to start from the bottom again?

As we are entering the Gig economy and stuck at home for the time being, there are many people creating their own Start-up companies. It’s the big trend of the business world now and many young people, especially for the Millennials. More and more younger generations are joining them in hopes to expand their companies.

Though before joining Start-ups, there are 5 things you need to know before joining them. Because it will be a very different culture from joining big companies. If you are a fresh graduate, this may help you when you are looking for a job. These are based on my experience, I have joined two Start-Ups and today I am working in one as well. So here are my thoughts about Start-Ups…

1. Expect to get loads of works

Since it is a small business, start-ups are usually tight in budget and have to think a lot about how to get their business to earn a profit. Starting from the beginning is already difficult: there are loans to cover, leads to find, keep expenses in check, and many more. In my experience, when one person is absent, the one whom they are working with will keep chasing after you even when you don’t come to work. So you have a lot of homework.

Unlike big companies, they have a lot of people to handle or cover certain tasks. If one person leaves, the company won’t much problems as Startups do.

2. Making friends are much easier

Startups usually contain at least 5–10 people. Because of that, it feels like back to school. Unlike big companies, we take walls out and replace with open tables. It really depends on the company, but from where I work, team bonding is so much easier. It’s a much better environment because you get to interact with everyone from different departments.

In Startups, because they tend to rent small spaces and made it felt like home, pretty much like WeWork. Open communication became very simple. You get to bond with your colleagues faster and learn from each other easily because you interact with them all the time. There are no walls that barricade you from your colleagues, so you can communicate easily.

3. Payment may not be big

Like I mentioned before, sometimes Startups are tight in budget. So they may ask you to work more, but few payments. Usually, Startups don’t tell you this because it’s a sensitive topic.

My payment where I work isn’t as much as when I was working in big companies. It’s not much, but you can still survive. You just need to keep your own expenses in check.

However, because of this, sometimes you get to learn more things than big companies…

4. With more work, comes with great responsibilities

The point of Startup is not only to make a profit but to better your career. Big companies, especially for fresh graduates, don’t usually give you much work at first because they think that you are still new, you will do the easy part first and let the seniors do the hard stuff. Seniors and mentors will give a lot of guidance and help for you so that companies can still keep their reputation up even with new fresh grads. Eventually, they will let you do the hard stuff.

In Startups, everyone is learning. It’s basically, “BAM!!! Here’s what you gotta do today, tomorrow, next week, next month, etc”. There are a lot of job rotations, so you get to know what is it like to be in different roles.

For instance, I was once a Project Admin. But suddenly, I was ‘borrowed’ by Marketing team to help with their customer services, Marketing Communications, and event organizing. So my job didn’t fit my description, but I got to learn a lot of things in a span of a month.

In Start-ups, you pretty much learn everything. You get to struggle together with your colleagues, bond together and achieve tasks. Basically, you will be involved in a lot of teamwork because everyone depends on you and vice versa.

Because of the points mentioned above, get ready to take in the last one:

5. Prepare to not have a work-life balance

Maybe some big companies have this as well, but not as much as Startups. I remember taking a day off, and I will still need to update my boss on certain tasks. Even my friend who took a 5 days holiday was chased after my boss and clients. So even when you are on a holiday, some works are looming over you.

Then again, this is the beginning.

The Takeaway…

So what you all need to know, especially younger generations, keep in mind that at Startups, you will have a lot of work but earn lots of experience.

This article is not meant to discourage you, but to remind you. Because today, there are lots of Startups opening, especially in developing countries such as Indonesia.

The biggest point I like about Startup is: growing together. I get to learn more, be more open to my colleagues, and I have a work family. It’s still fruitful and sure there are ups and downs. But Startups are still great, it all depends on your preferences.

The best advice I get from people and for you is: follow your heart. Is this where you want to be?

Hope it helps for you :)