Startup-perks?

The culture of start-ups has been written about extensively, especially in lieue of Apple's continual success and Facebook's IPO. The article, "Are These The Best Startup Perks You've Ever Seen?" talks about how having a fun culture can benefit firms both small and large. The principle idea is to create a fun productive environment where your employees feel appreciated. Intuitively, it makes sense. Happy workers are productive workers. Yet, over 99% of the companies do not adopt this strategy. And, there is a reason for this. So when would this strategy make sense and when would it not make sense? I have listed a few questions to help us think about this:

1) Are you unable to provide healthcare benefits? Do you need 'creative' methods of compensation?
2) Are your employees wearing multiple hats, working late hours, and doing it all in an office space which looks like a dorm-room? Do you need to 'create' work/life balance?
3) Does the idea of a game of ping-pong with your boss seem awkward and unnecessary?

Having a fun atmosphere is a business strategy which can fail as easily as it can succeed. Before adopting this strategy, you might want to ask yourself a few questions.

http://mashable.com/2012/05/28/startup-perks-culture/