Is My Start-Up Successful Because I Worry?

When I was working in procurement, where I spent a lot of time buying things, there was a saying we’d hear time and time again: Expect what you inspect. In other circles, people say, “What gets measured changes.” I’ve been thinking about both of these sayings a lot lately. Primarily because I’m chin-deep in the busiest season of my own start-up.

Store4Summer is my summer storage company. It targets college campus students in the metro D.C. area who need unique moving, shipping, and storage solutions. I love my company, and I improve upon it each year. In fact, I’ve instituted multiple measurements that track a large number of aspects of the company so that I can improve upon it.

And yet, each year—from tax day until June 1st—I worry. You have to understand that I’m not usually a worrier. Typically, I take an Alfred E. Neuman approach: “What, me worry?” But not during my start-up’s busy season. This is partly due to the seasonal nature of the business. Most college students move out between the last week in April and the last week in May.

But the real question is “Does this worry make my start-up successful?” Sometimes I think it helps me Poke the Box, as Seth Godin would say. While other local business owners won’t change because they prefer the status quo or because “That’s not the way we used to do it,” I wonder if my worrying is one of the main things that helps me continue to grow and change my start-up. Already this year I’m hoping to double my sales.

So the question is “Does the fact that I worry cause better results, or does it simply increase my stress and the likelihood that I’ll go prematurely grey?” It’s a tough call. There are other questions that go hand-in-hand with this, such as, “Does this motivate people on my team, or does it alienate them?” For me, these are valid questions, and I’m not sure of the answers.

Even if you use non-conventional methods, how do you improve your start-up? Until I find another way to improve mine, I think I’ll still focus on pushing my proverbial rock up the hill.