How Small Businesses can Foster a Successful Culture

In order for small businesses to thrive and succeed a successful, well defined culture within the business is vital.

Fostering a successful culture seems easier said than done, but when in motion it will completely change the outlook of a business for the better. Each individual business needs to have its own culture, it needs to be a culture that all employees can relate to and it also needs to be a culture that employees want to be a part of. In order to understand the importance fostering a successful culture let’s begin by taking a look at some examples of startups that have successfully implemented a good workplace culture. In addition let’s also investigate different ways that you can foster a successful culture within your own small business.

Small businesses with proven successful cultures

Carrie Munson, founder of online foundation wear retailer Undersummers, defined a vision and culture for her company and she has kept this vision at the forefront of every staff meeting. At each team meeting a staff member gets recognized for portraying the company vision in a positive manner. The results speak for themselves, Carrie reports that revenue has increased by over 60% in the last year and that their order fulfillment and quality control has been much improved.

Kenshō way is an online platform with a focus on meditation and yoga and this is sets the tone for everything the startup does. Throughout the organization’s office space there are mindfulness zones and all meetings begin with those present connecting with their breathe for a short time before discussions start.

Zappos isn’t a small business anymore but right from the onset their CEO Tony Hsieh realized the importance of a successful and focused workplace culture. Hsieh revealed in his book, Delivering Happiness, that he knew that if he got the culture right then building the brand that he had envisioned would happen on its own.

Different ways to create a successful culture

Creating a successful culture within your business is easier said than done. It can be argued that it is easier to create a culture of success within a small business where a smaller workforce is dealt with, but it also means that bad eggs won’t get lost among the masses. In order for the leader of a company to create a successful culture many different avenues can be followed but there are a few main goals to keep in mind that will ensure the creation of a successful culture.

First of all it is vital to define a desired company culture right from the get go, once that is done it is just as important to ensure that planning, decisions, and everything else that happens within the business is done with the goal of matching the company culture.

Once the company culture is defined and implemented then it needs to be fostered everyday to ensure longevity of successful culture.

Creating a creative and interactive work environment where employees feel at home provides the perfect base for successful company culture.

Activities like golf, employee bbq’s etc. can all be used along with daily in office entertainment such as foosball to help build and maintain a successful culture. Last but not least it is important to communicate company culture to new employees to ensure that they fit in with ease and so that they can start building and advancing towards the desired company culture. This is particularly important if you are one of the many startups who welcome pets. Jenny Nolan at pet specialists Cleaner Paws has spoken at length on this issue, and how pet friendly businesses make the situation clear to all job applicants as early as possible.