7 lessons that startups can learn from Santa Claus

Hey, it's Wojciech again :)

Christmas time is a moment to spend beautiful moments with your family. On the other hand, it is also a period of hard work on preparations to make them special. Who doesn't like decorating the house and Christmas tree, preparing Christmas Eve dishes, and delivering gifts? As all children know, Santa Claus and his elves are responsible for this last task. Every year he manages to fulfill his duty. How does he do it, and what can startups learn from Santa? In today's post.

1. Ambitious CEO with a bold vision - behind the success of every Christmas is Santa Claus. He was the one who outlined the idea for what his organization should do. It was bold and ambitious. You could say it was even crazy. However, he convinced others to do it: Elves who decided to join the team and parents and children who wanted to share Santa's vision of Christmas. The same we can see in ambitious startups. A company with an equally original CEO, a hard-working team, and a crowd of followers who will jump into the fire for it, can be sure of market success.

2. Simple offer and delivering value - you've been good, you get a gift. You've done badly, you're in for a treat. The rules are simple, but it helps to simplify the whole process. Many startups try to make their offer unnecessarily complicated instead of betting on something straightforward and understandable. Then it doesn't take long to explain what we can help with.

3. World-class customer service - children know you have to write a letter to Santa Claus. Just put it on the window, put it in the mailbox, or take it to the post office, and you don't have to worry about anything. Well, except maybe cleaning up the room and preparing a place for the gift. The customer service process is straightforward. No matter how I get in touch, the information always goes where it needs to go. Startups should take this to heart because the customer is their most crucial boss.

4. Procedures and bulletproof technology - to get to every house in one night, you need to work hard. Proven procedures and reliable technology that works regardless of conditions, weather, or time of day can help. For example, elves read letters and prepare gifts and Santa's sleigh. Reindeer pull the sleigh and fly the designated route, and Santa delivers the gifts where they need to be. Many startups should learn lessons from this. The processes inside the company should help with the mission, and the technology we have should be reliable and work whenever needed because that's what the market expects.

5. Making others happy - it is known that Santa Claus can make anyone happy. It doesn't matter if you get a coveted toy or a pair of Christmas socks under the tree. There will always be a smile on the person's face unwrapping the gift. Likewise, if a startup can make its customer happy, it won't complain about a lack of interest. 

6. Pay it forward - Santa doesn't expect anything in return. He knows that we will ask for him next year. Once we start, it will be hard to quit. Startups can treat their customers similarly. Just be nice and don't expect much in return. Loyal customers will generate excellent value over time.

7. Always on time - Santa always meets his deadline. With only one opportunity a year, he needs to take advantage of it and meet others' expectations. Well-organized startups operate similarly. They make a great first impression and regularly come back with something interesting. They also never blow deadlines for their clients because they know everyone counts on them.

With this fun post, I wanted to thank you for the year we've spent together. May Christmas time is a moment spent with family for you. I wish you all the best and much health for the whole family! Merry Christmas!

P.S. Of course, we have prepared some more interesting links so you can keep scrolling 😉

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Links of the week

Corporate world news:

5-min read - Tech trends 2022: Starships and missing chips. Elon Musk's dream of going to Mars could take a big leap forward next year when his company SpaceX attempts to launch Starship into orbit for the first time. 👉 Read full story >>

Business Development:

5-min read - Top 10 books to have under the tree for startup enthusiasts this Christmas. While the year winds down and festivities commence, it’s still not too late to get the perfect Christmas gift for the budding entrepreneur, founder or startup-enthusiast in your life. 👉 Read full story >>

Startup news: 

4-min read - Planting the seeds for future sustainability, Lithuania’s HeavyFinance raises $1 million. Connecting farmers to investors HeavyFinance has raised $1 million in order to provide farmers with short-to-medium term financing solutions ranging between €6,000 – €300,000. Guess whose comment you can find inside? ;)👉 Read full story >>

Book of the week

👉 The Startup Playbook. In this book, the authors share their years of combined knowledge gleaned from building and leading companies to help you make the right decisions to keep your company growing — and out of the startup graveyard. This book is the essential guide containing everything you need to know as you take the journey from idea to a successful startup.

Proven and repeatable tactics for:

• refining your idea,
• team-building,
• raising money,
• developing a product or service,
• and more!

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