In the last post, we gave you five of Subliminal Mistakes Entrepreneurs Must Avoid. As a reminder, these are “Not understanding the changing role of the founder(s)”, “Worrying about making mistakes”, “Not unplugging”, “Undervaluing the importance of the right team”, “Having no succession plan or business continuation plan in place”. We hope you had a chance to think about these mistakes and we are now ready to dive into the final five. First up…
Failure to develop key leaders
Leadership is crucial, and developing key leaders provides business owners and entrepreneurs with the ability to ‘let go’ and delegate. One of the most difficult pieces for owners is empowering other people, providing them with clear expectations and then letting go. They often feel they can do it better or faster or simply that it will all fall apart without them actually doing it personally. Learning to develop leaders is essential. Learning how to empower others is the key to growth.
Failing to communicate with important constituencies
Overlooking or not addressing the evolving needs of your clients or customers, over-promising and under-delivering, not partnering with important vendors or paying attention to key relationships, not communicating to the rest of the team (or even your partners) are all examples of communication blunders. These communication blunders aren’t deliberate, nor is there malice behind them. The truth is that we become complacent, we get busy, and we focus on other areas and forget the importance of communication. Yet these communication mistakes can be costly in terms of time, resources, relationships and revenues.
Not planning, not planning well enough or not planning for the “what ifs”
Most entrepreneurs plan for increased revenues, an increased number of customers and/or additional staffing needs. They recognize when they need to change their technology, or apply technology they haven’t used before. What’s often missing is a really focused plan; a plan with goals and objectives, and a plan on how to achieve them. Include the “what ifs”: what if the economy has a downturn; what if I lose my top sales person; what if I get sick and can’t work; what if a key contact leaves… Considering potential “what ifs” ensures that you can respond to changes rather than simply react to them. The same holds true in relation to planning for growth. One of the biggest business challenges is growing too fast or simply growing steadily but ignoring the need for more and different infrastructure. If you are going to build a one story house you can do so with a different foundation than you’d need for a sky scraper. The same applies to business. The systems, processes, procedures, technology and all related infrastructure needs to be considered, evaluated and modified as a business grows. Unplanned growth brings other problems: customer service, internal staff, delivery…
Assuming that what got you here will get you there
What (and who) can get a business to a certain level may not be (and often isn’t) the same as what (and who) can get them to a higher level. To illustrate, consider that an organization may hire people who are perfect for them when the company is producing revenues of $500K, and yet those same individuals may not be the right people for the organization as they approach $3M. It’s sad to acknowledge this, but true and business owners and leaders need to be willing to look at their staff regularly to determine if they have the right people to take them forward. Often the factors that moved the company to one level in sales will not be the same factors needed to get to the next level. A company may need to change how they market, who they market to, who they see as their ideal client, level of service, and a multitude of other considerations. Believing that what got you here will get you there is an assumption with huge potential consequences.
Not seeing everything through the lens of “what can we learn from this”
One of the keys to long term success is looking at everything, and seeing the lessons we can glean from our experiences. Successes, and what might be perceived as failures, all have lessons attached if we are willing to look for them. To grow a business, one has to continually have a beginner’s mind – always be willing to look for new ways of thinking, find new ways of at looking at things, and to always watch for the learning that will come from each attempt that’s been made.
You can break – or make – a business through your mistakes. Entrepreneurs, by their very nature are risk-takers, so mistakes go with the territory. Winston Churchill said, “All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes.” There’s truth in that, and entrepreneurs are certainly no exception to the rule. Yet the key to entrepreneurial success lies within being aware, learning from your mistakes – and putting a plan in place to avoid the ones you can.
