I was recently re-reading the book Atomic Habits. As someone who loves the power of habits, it got me thinking about the key habits entrepreneurs can develop to grow their business. Small things done everyday don’t appear to move the needle right away, but over time become powerful and can lead to big things.

‍

Customer discovery

Talking to one potential customer doesn’t always have an earth shattering insight. But the process of continually talking to many potential customers to learn enough about their problems in order to create a 10x better solution is essential. How do you make it a habit to talk to X potential customers per week? Once you start building a business and having paying customers, how do you also seek feedback from existing customers to continually improve the product, leading to higher retention and customer loyalty? The habit of talking to customers keeps you on the front lines of what matters to your customers and how you deliver value to them.

‍

Sales process

Driving sales is critical to startup success. There are many elements to get right for a strong go-to-market strategy. But defining and executing a sales playbook requires habits. How do you continually test and learn different marketing messages and channels? How do you consistently make X number of cold calls or Y number of demos per week? What is your process to follow-up and stay engaged with prospects? In what is often a numbers game, you have to put in the work to get the results you want.

‍

Culture

Culture doesn’t form with one event. But through a series of habits and decisions you can create a powerful culture. In a startup world where a lot of things are out of your control, culture is 100% in your control. Your habits of how you treat employees, your hiring process, how you set vision, core values, goals, etc. all play a part. You reiterate your culture every day in terms of how you handle situations, how you support your team, how you treat customers, etc. Many positive culture habits start small, but can grow into a powerful advantage.

‍

These are just a few examples of positive habits that are critical to startups. There is also the flip side, how to avoid negative habits that can derail startups. Will save that for another day!

‍