How to decide whether to work for a start up or not

You have graduated from college and there’s a lucrative job offer in your hand from a MNC of repute. Would you then want to work with a start-up that is just kicking-off? It’s definitely a difficult choice to make. On one hand, there is a high-paying entry level position in a corporate that guarantees regular and timely cheques, good pay scale and in turn a secure and stable life, while on the other there is an amateur start-up offering perhaps lesser salary, there is higher risk involved and you could end up working for hours. It’s only logical to grab that enticing corporate job or is it?

Business Insider tells you what start-ups have to offer as against corporates. If it seems exciting to you, then taking the plunge to enter the start-up world may be a wise option.

Exciting work environment:

Start-ups expect you to be on your toes. There are newer challenges every day and you are expected to push those boundaries of learning and delivering every moment to the point that ​it can give you an adrenaline rush. There's no point when you would feel bored, that's for sure!

More responsibilities

Start-ups usually do not have many people working behind them. They believe in cost cutting measures and would hunt for talent that comes cheap and can handle multiple tasks. There would probably be nobody else in the company who has the same skill set as you and who can approach problems in the same way you do. Therefore, there’s lot of room to make your mark!

More exposure:

You may not get the money but it definitely gives you the exposure to various responsibilities that you may not get in a corporate house. Grab them, even if it's outside your work role (because you will be expected to do so) and you will emerge an all-in-one package! More importantly, entrepreneurs are people who innovate, address pain points of customers and are always striving to come up with something new. If you are working for them, there is a pool of knowledge out there to learn from.

More place for ideas and creativity:

This point is borrowed from the previous. The more you learn from a start-up, the more creative you become. And guess what? Throw an idea and see how welcoming it is in a place with young budding minds, that otherwise may have been rubbished by a corporate house. Creativity, innovations and ideas are the USP of start-ups and they just love it.

Risk taking abilities, sense of ownership and how to be wise with money!

Start-ups always hold the risk of being a success or a failure. The initial stage is more of a roller coaster ride where a lot of what you do would be a risk. It enhances your risk taking abilities and prepares you to be able to start a business of your own at some point in time. Moreover, considering it’s a small team, you have to take ownership for everything - failures as well as success - like it’s your own company. There would be times when it would be so cash-strapped that you might have to dish out your own money to travel for work. However, the environment helps you learn how to complete business tasks in minimum budget. If nothing else, you will definitely master how to do more in less!

Work more likely to be recognized. Flip side - same goes for failures!

Even as all of your hard work may be ignored by the boss or someone else is going to claim the credit for your work in a corporate house, at a startup, it's nearly impossible that a job well done goes unnoticed. You are recognized instantly for that great idea or for the whopping ad revenue you got for the company. But you are as likely to be in the limelight when things go wrong at your end.

If these things appeal to you, chuck that corporate job because you are ready to join a start-up already.

(Image credits: BCCL)