The CEO of Me: How We’ve Built a Startup Just By Growing Up

Like how we grow and develop as human beings, a business also goes through the same process of growth, learning, and maturity. As long as a business lives, it will experience changes, difficulties, setbacks, and even self-discovery. Like how we strive to become the best versions of ourselves, growing a business is also about helping it achieve its most refined version, its full potential.

There are a lot of parallels between the personal and entrepreneurial journey. Let’s explore this interesting metaphor and uncover the lessons to be learned.

Early Childhood Development and Startup Infancy

Like humans, businesses are born clueless. Everything starts from the basics– learning to walk and talk until we slowly progress to the more advanced stages of life. A startup also starts at the very basic stage. Its founders are eager and curious to learn and grow and navigate the world but have no choice but to do what it takes and build a strong foundation before achieving tangible progress. To build this foundation, a startup needs to build support systems, seek mentorship, and undergo a series of experimentation to identify what works and what doesn’t. In early childhood, we also had to do the same– relying on our caregivers and just doing what we could to thrive and learn at our own pace.

Teenage Years and the Awkward Adolescence of Startups

A startup also develops into adolescents– rarely graceful, mostly awkward. There are a lot of turbulent moments at this stage– it’s when the startup strives to attain independence and solid brand identity. It’s when it wants to meet societal expectations while sorting the internal chaos. It’s the period of testing boundaries, trying out new experiences, and learning from both failures and successes. As teenagers try to find their tribe, their trusted circle of friends, it’s also the perfect time for startups to expand their business relationships and establish partnerships through its network.

Adulthood: Becoming Your Own Person and Scaling the Startup

As the startup steps into adulthood, it has to make more strategic decisions and take responsibility for its choices. From expanding to a different market, diversifying the products, and allocating resources, the stakes are higher and it becomes even more crucial to uphold a culture of excellence and achieve organizational goals. Like how we eventually establish independence and form our own family, the leader of a startup also ascends to the central role of a provider– one who has to look out for his family, his team members. It’s about taking care of everyone’s well-being while sorting priorities and establishing financial independence as a business.

There are uncomfortable growth spurts as the startup tries to scale, expand the team, and meet increased demand, but once the challenges are overcome and stability is achieved, the rewards are profound and victory is sweeter.

Overcoming Challenges: From Personal Obstacles to Market Competition

Failures and setbacks are more than common in the startup landscape. Challenges aren’t a circumstance; they’re a part of the process. Like how life is filled with such challenges, startups also face all kinds of trials, day in and day out. It’s like you never run out of problems, and that’s just the way it is. However, every failure in life or in business brings lessons, and every lesson turns into invaluable wisdom that eventually breeds success.

You just need to pull through and rally the best people that can support you in your growth. Surround yourself with the right people and commit to lifelong learning and continuous improvement. Expect setbacks and bounce back when life gets tough. Whether it’s the fierce competition, market volatility, financial challenges, or chaos in your internal operations, every day can get bumpy and unpredictable, but in life, your results are proportional to your efforts. The bigger the problem, the bigger the reward. Just accept that it takes what it takes and as long as you’re consistent in adapting and evolving and perfecting your craft, you’ll eventually come out on top.

Conclusion

Navigating life and business is not that different. The journey is very much similar– trying to march forward despite uncertainties. However, just remember that it’s not about immediate results. It’s about your trajectory. As long as you clearly define your goal, you can plan your strategy around it and pave your own path to your desired destination. The journey won’t be easy or predictable, but that’s what makes it extra exciting. Just embrace the process, and as long as you don’t stop, your destination is always within reach.

‍