It takes courage to follow your passion, chase your dream and create your own business but it takes even more to keep that business running successfully and effectively. Many times, as the company grows and changes, the leaders have to follow up with the pace as well. It is a constant journey of learning and growth as both a person and a professional because you, as the leader, founder, and CEO, are the soul of the company. Having said that, many have failed to do so. Of course, we are no longer surprised when we hear about a start-up going bankrupt or the founder being fired. They rest on laurels and just let the company and themselves go downhill. Therefore, it is important that we recognize the leadership challenges in a startup and know how to deal with them.
Limited resources
One of the most common leadership challenges is limited resources. Unlike huge corporations, startups struggle with managing and getting resources, both money and people. Entrepreneurs have the tendency to believe that whatever philosophy and plans that have helped them succeed in the very first step will simply help them in the further journey when reality turns out to be completely different. This, indeed, is not a good way to grow your business. It is important that you learn to scale up the organizations’ ability and funding for execution plans to allow people the chance to deliver with excellence. Not only that, you also need a team of focused and deliberate people who know how to prioritize and take proactive steps to achieve visible and measurable goals.
Redefining vision and goals
The goal you set when you first set out in the beginning of your company no longer is the one you are making today anymore. As mentioned above, as companies grow bigger, so will the goals and visions. Redefining a clear vision and goals are very important to get everyone on the same page and establish an organized system to keep the company motivated and running smoothly.
Another problem is the fact that some leaders become focused on individual targets rather than team goals. By setting individual goals, you are helping them ignore the team goals. Not a very good message to give. It is important for a leader to build a ‘WE’ team and not an ‘I’ team. Don’t set targets for each of the team members, give the team a target and leave it to them to figure out who will contribute what and how. This way, you will foster strong stewardship among all team members.
The right business structure and culture
Startups often begin their journey without a definitive culture, which often leads to internal challenges, conflicts, disappointments, and employee turnover. A lack of historical marketing and sales data makes it difficult to determine and define reasonable goals and expectations. And a shortage of manpower, combined with the need for “all hands on deck,” often means training happens on-the-job and on the fly. A great product, service or business can easily fail without a strong culture, clear business goals, and a proven method for teaching employees how to do the best job possible.
>> Read more: Mental health and wellbeing in the workplace
Leadership Challenges: Analyze, learn and understand your competitors
Competition is a crucial factor in the success and failure of your startup. You cannot encourage yourself and your employees to live in the world of blissful ignorance — not if you want to succeed! Competitive analysis is an important step in formulating your startup’s success strategy. It’s not enough to do well, you must out-do your competition.
Good startup leaders know how to:
- Analyze and learn from the mistakes of their competitors
- Work on understanding the successful aspects of their competitors and try to match up to them
- Work on differentiating themselves in the marketplace
Constant change
Everything can change in an instant for a startup, especially one in the tech industry, and conflicting directions can make it hard to know if your company is on the right path. Dig deep to determine your values and the principles you want to ingrain in your company and then refuse to compromise on them. As long as you and those within the business hold true to these beliefs, you’ll maintain the right course.
Leaders’ reinvention
An exemplary entrepreneur resolves his or her leadership challenges, reinventing their leadership style along the way. They understand that the looking glass through which they see the world must have a continually broadening perspective; otherwise change will be uncomfortably forced upon them. To be this leader, you must know where your leadership gaps lie and access the resources to close them. Continuing education, coaching, mentoring, industry and empowerment conferences, and a good library are all means to serve this purpose.
>> Read more: How to keep your employees motivated during Covid-19
Bibliography:
Jha, V. (2016, January 25). The biggest leadership challenges that founders of startups face. Medium. https://medium.com/productivity-revolution/the-biggest-leadership-challenges-that-founders-of-startups-face-d00779c18f4.
Rout, N. (2016, April 26). What are you doing wrong as a leader for your startup? 15Five. https://www.15five.com/blog/startup-leadership-advice/.
Hunckler, M. (2017, March 22). 12 challenges startup culture must overcome in order to thrive in 2017. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthunckler/2017/03/22/12-challenges-startup-culture-must-overcome-in-order-to-thrive-in-2017/?sh=5f1ad2687592.
JobHopin Team