“There’s lots to be excited about, startups are full of typically young, very talented people trying to solve big problems,” says Steve Baxter, one of Australia’s most successful tech entrepreneurs. With a background in everything from the Australian Army to Google, Steve is now an active investor and mentor to startups. In 2012, he founded Brisbane’s well known co-working hub, River City Labs. In 2014, he joined Channel 10’s Shark Tank Australia where he judges contestants’ business concepts and products. He is now the founder and CEO of Transition Level Investments, a company that invests in early-stage startups. How does he do it? What makes a successful startup in the first place? Tanda sat down with Steve to get his thoughts on how to manage startups from the ground up.

Steve Baxter on Shark Tank Australia. Photo Credit: CEO Magazine

1. Now is the best time to start a business

“Even 12 years ago, you would have needed hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of IT. Nowadays you can do it with tens of dollars a month in Dropbox accounts and other bits and pieces,” Steve explains. “So the burden to actually start a business is remarkably low, which is just fantastic.”

In fact, according to the StartupBlink Startup Ecosystem Rankings 2019 report, Australia is now the fifth-most startup-friendly country in the world. It has leapt forward six places in just two years based on the number of startups and supporting organisations and the business environment in general. So if you are planning to start a business, now is the best time to do it. And the best cities to start your business in? The same report lists Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, and Adelaide as friendliest to startups.

Read more: Why Brisbane is Australia’s Best City for Startups

2. Sit in one room and go from there

“I always encourage people to start in one room,” Steve says, when asked about his advice for those just building their business. He presents a scenario where there are six people in a room. “One person starts, and he needs to apply a second person, but the person sits next to him but there’s only has six people in the room. So if you have to manage workflow, you can literally pass a piece of paper around,” he continues. It will help the team understand who needs what information, when they need it, and how best to present it to them. Afterwards, the team can decide what parts of the workflow can be replaced with software.

“So don’t jump with both feet for the windows just begging for some solution,” he advises, sit in one room and go from there.

Read more: How to Achieve Culture by Design with Career Culture Lab’s Amanda Lutvey

3. Hire within your means

“The problem with all startups is their cash restraint, so you get a lot of stuff that you think makes a lot of sense when you’re applying. ‘Don’t employ that person unless they’re the best person in the world’, that’s crap, alright? The best person in the world is actually very hard to find,” Steve shares.

For him, the right strategy is to find someone who is fit for the job but will do it within the budget. “So you [need to] be careful, you need to get the quality you can afford,” he adds. It all comes down to understanding exactly what the business needs at a particular stage. “It doesn’t mean employ dunces or employ rocket scientists, it means level and person. Therefore, that’s smart, that’s what we can settle for.” Evidently, hiring within your means is one of the first skills that a startup founder needs to master.

Read more: 3 Strategies to Master Your Wage Costs in 2019

4. Don’t push people around

“The world is also people. But remember, we’re talking about people here, they’re not pieces of timber you can push around on a chess board, right?” he remarks.

Taking care of people matters for the business in more ways than one. A 2016 SHRM survey showed that the average cost per hire is $4,129 and the average time to fill a position is 42 days. It costs a lot of resources to get the right person, and it costs a lot to lose them too. A high turnover rate can even ruin your company’s reputation. That’s why employee experience is a gamechanger. The best talents expect a great employee experience, and it greatly influences their decision to join or stay in a company.  “They won’t be pushed around, they’ll do their own thing regardless of how much you push them,” he emphasises.

Read more: Revolutionising Employee Engagement with Pragmatic Thinking’s Mikey Ellis

5. There’s always more error than trial

Steve likes to emphasise being adaptable when it comes to startups. “High growth can sometimes be a pitfall in itself, that always has a lot of trial and error, always more error than trial, if you know what I mean. So it does require some flexibility, it does require some freedom of thinking, and some people aren’t here for that. The older you are the less geared you are for it,” he says.

But in the end, anyone can run a successful startup. All it takes is a good business concept, an engaged team with the right set of skills, a scalable workflow, and the willingness to change with the times. There is always some risk in a new business venture, but with every risk there is reward. As Steve says, the only way to find out if it’s going to work is to do it.
Looking to begin your own startup? Finding new ways to manage the business you already have? Learn from Steve Baxter and other topnotch speakers at the Workforce Success Conference on 26 July 2019. Get your tickets now!