10 challenges Startup Founders face & How to resolve them
15 Inspirational Quotes to help you Overcome Business Problems
1. Outside forces stand between you & your Goal. “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” —Jimmy Dean Country Singer & Sausage
2. You know you have a Solution, but others don’t see it yet. “You have power over your mind–not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” —Marcus Aurelius Roman Emperor
3. The day isn’t going as you planned. “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” —Dolly Parton. Country Singer & Founder of Dollywood
4. If your Goals seem hard to achieve. “A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and lots of hard work.” —Colin Powell, Secretary of State
5. You’re considering two Ideas; one is safe and the other is risky. “Don’t be afraid to give up the good, to go for the great.” —John D. Rockefeller, $Billionaire
6. Fears about the Future are impairing your ability to lead. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” —Alan Kay, top American Computer Scientist
7. A Project you tried seems destined for failure. “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” —Henry David Thoreau, early American Writer
8. The rest of your Life seems more interesting than the work you should be doing. “I owe my success to the fact that I never had a clock in my workroom. Seventy-five of us worked 20 hours every day and only slept four hours–and thrived on it.” —Thomas Edison, Inventor
9. You disagree with your Team on a regular basis. “If two men on the same job agree all the time, then one is useless. If they disagree all the time, both are useless.” —Darryl F. Zanuck, American Film Producer
10. Your To-Do List looks over-whelming. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex over-whelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the most important one.” Mark Twain, American Writer
11. You’ve been dominating the Conversation in every meeting, and your co-workers are complaining. “To talk well and eloquently is a very great art, but an equally great one is to know the right moment to stop.” —Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian Classical Composer
12. You feel as though you’re spending too much Time on the Hiring process. “When I meet successful people, I ask 100 questions as to what they attribute their success to. It is usually the same: persistence, hard work, & hiring good people.” —Kiana Tom, American TV Host & Actress
13. Management tasks seem unimportant to you at the moment. “Many people think of Management as cutting deals, laying people off, hiring people, buying & selling companies. That’s not Management; that’s Deal-Making. Management is the opportunity to help people become all they can be. Practiced that way, it’s a magnificent obsession, profession.” —Clayton M. Christensen, Business Consultant who started “Disruptive Innovation”.
14. Customers are complaining about your Product or your Business. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” —Bill Gates, Founder, MicroSoft
15. One of your Employees has made a colossal mistake. “Recently, I was asked if I was going to fire an Employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. No, I replied, I just spent $600,000 training him”. —Thomas Watson, Founder IBM
Challenging Topics to find Biz Solutions: Planning, Funding, Team, Competitors, Marketing Plan, Customer Retention, Cash Flow, Doing it Your Way, Leadership, Getting Assistance,
Risks & Rewards. Being a start-up comes with all kinds of new Opportunities (with Rewards) that other, more established companies may not have access to. However, it also comes with its own challenges & obstacles (Risks) to success. Here are 10 of the biggest Challenges your Startup may face, and how to avoid, mitigate or eliminate them.
1. Lack of Planning
Starting a business isn’t just about Survive till you Thrive. You need to prepare for the future. most Start-ups fail because they haven’t been able to sustain themselves until they get to break-even & start making $$$, through the long term. a Plans is indispensable, if you want to know where you’re going and how to get there. Start with a 1 page Business Plan before Launch and review it monthly as your Startup develops. Expand it to cover more issues – that are now important to you (see Business Planning in Wiz4.biz)
2. Finding Funding
One of the biggest problems will always be $$$ – to operate & grow with. As a Startup, you just don’t have the proven traction of a more established businesses and may find it harder to get Funding. If you get creative, there are other ways of getting the capital in to make your business dreams a reality. (see Wiz4.biz section on Finding Funding)
3. Picking the right Team
As a start-up, you need people for advice & to run the operations with you, but it is often difficult to afford them. You need those who can wear multiple hats (to fill in your Gaps) and are able to work independently. However, these people are often the best in their industries and most likely wouldn’t want to take a pay cut or risk their career path – unless they saw an outstanding opportunity. Present it to them and see if they get your passion. Then you can offer them Sweat Equity, Convertible Notes, Stock Options, etc, until your company is making enough $$$ to adequately compensate them.
4. the Challenge of Competitors
Do research to find out who your Competitors are, then do a SWOT analysis against them; your Strength & Weakness, then figure out the Opportunity your new product has if Better, Faster, Cheaper and finally, what Threat does the Competitor pose?
5. Creating your Marketing Plan
Marketing needs to be data driven. Once a week, look at your Sales Funnel and see which area you need to work on. You may need to, out-source work to Experts to get the best results. Delegating & out-sourcing will enable you to focus on more important things – only you can do as the Founder. Sometimes, you may find that your market is not ready for the innovative solutions you offer. Keep educating your Target Market and never give up. Keep updating your progress until your value to your Target Market is clear.
6. Customer Retention
Many Startups focus so hard on getting new Customers that they forget all about retaining the ones they already have, once they’ve got them. A few ways are: 1) provide excellent Support, 2) ask for Feedback, so you know what they think of you & your products, 3) use Incentives to do more business with them, 4) keep in touch with a monthly Newsletter that tells about new developments, applications, products, etc. and many more ways.
7. Managing Cash Flow
Knowing the regular P&L statement of the business is not enough. Although it may appear that you are breaking even or making $$$ on paper, it doesn’t mean that the business will survive the following months. The key to a thriving company is to ensure that you understand your Receivables, Payables, & your Net position at all times – in order for you to plan ahead. Always strive to keep your expenses as low as possible (ie, Lean Mgt) until you can afford to be more generous. P&L, Balance Sheet & Cash Flow statement are the tools for monitoring your Cash Flow and making Financial decisions.
8. Do it your Way !!!
When you’re starting up, everyone has different ideas about how to run your business and how you should grow. This is especially true when you’re in the early Fund-Raising stage and your Investors are telling you to adopt a certain business model. Take time to find – at times even form – your own identity and your “Vision” for the business + the best business model target market, and other aspects of your company for you. The key is to give your Founding team enough time to test the market and experiment with different business models (if needed), to identify the best model for your start-up. Once you’ve made the final decision, share that plan with your Team, Employees & Investors.
9. Being a good Leader
A key point in being a leader is; you must learn to be the bigger person; Give first. Trust in others. Believe that they will do their best – even if you are doubtful. Being a good Role-Model & inspiring – works better than controlling. Allow for mistakes as great learning opportunities, will often take place when mistakes are made. (ask Bill Gates) A good leader brings out the best in all those around him. As a Leader, your health, discipline, day-to-day habits & focus are essential, because you need to be at your best at all times to make the right decisions. (for more Info click on Leadership in Wiz4.biz)
Down-time. If you are exhausted a lot of the time, your business could eventually face the slump too. Have an occasional downtime to recharge yourself – even if it means cutting off your communication for a while. Take a Nap, go for a Walk, do some Exercise, Travel, Sight-see, etc; One or more. Do different combos. Whatever works best for you !!!
10. Leadership Assistance
Startup Founders tend to over-estimate their own capability and learn – the hard way – that they do not know everything and that is okay. Get a Mentor – someone you can admit your mistakes to – and seek help from, when you need guidance. Your Mentor will be able to hold you accountable to your Business Plan & personal development + help you identify & resolve – mistakes or improvement opportunities – as they come up. (you could Interview Peter/CXO of Wiz4.biz who’s been Mentoring businesses for > 40 yrs or choose another from Startup-Mentors.com.