Creating alignment at your startup will create a smooth flow that guarantees success. Alignment is when everything is in place and there are no alterations among various ends of your startup. In a simpler sense, alignment is defined as parts of something that are in the proper position relative to each other.
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For example, adjusting the front wheels on a car is an example of a front-end alignment. Just like the car-wheel example, when there is alignment, your startup will run effortlessly. In this article, I discuss how to create alignment at your startup.
Defining your why is all about knowing what drives and inspires you to found a startup. There are many reasons and motivations why people want to be founders of startups. It could be the need for money, fame, a sense of worth, and so on. However, founders who are driven by the need to solve problems and provide value will have more reasons to stay on even in the face of disappointments. If you want to gain alignment at your startup, identify what motivates you about your business.
The second step towards achieving alignment in your business is to define the purpose of the business. What is your business out to do? It is more than just providing services. Every founder must specify the destiny of their business. For example, Microsoft’s purpose is to get billions of people around the world access to computers and the Internet. So on this note; every founder must know what their business is out to offer the world.
If you want to bring alignment to your business, you must define your startup’s mission. Missions are usually specific and time-bound. For example, you can state that you plan on serving 70,000 people before 2025.
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With this target in sight, your startup can draft a plan of action on how to make this a reality. It gives you something specific to focus on.
Gaining alignment in your startup is all about serving a specific group or demographic. When you specify your audience or market, it helps you get focused on meeting their needs in a specific and customized way. For example, you can develop a product that is targeted mainly at millennials and Gen-Zs.
A startup’s culture is when you have guiding principles and philosophies that govern the operations of your startup.
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For example, there are various types of startup cultures such as product-first, customer-first, and so on. By defining your startup culture, the team and the whole company come under one startup lifestyle.
Vision is all about having the foresight and being futuristic. Your vision must follow the SMART principle. The letters S and M generally mean specific and measurable. Possibly the most common version has the remaining letters referring to achievable (or attainable), relevant, and time-bound. For instance, you can envision being the largest company in your industry by 2025.
For thousands of years, the North Star has been a guiding light for navigators and travelers, letting them sail the seas and cross the wilderness without getting lost. Hence, in the business world, the startup must have a larger-than-life compass that directs and controls its affairs and operations.
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This article was first published on 4th July 2022
nnaemeka-emmanuel
Nnaemeka is an academic scholar with a degree in History and International Studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is also a creative writer, content creator, storyteller, and social analyst.
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