When you're not a "startup" anymore...
All of "Hamilton" is great, of course, but, among the multitude of great lines, there's one in particular that always speaks to me as a business owner. During Cabinet Battle #1 (a rapped debate about America's fiscal strategy), Hamilton states to Jefferson, "Thomas, that was a real nice declaration. Welcome to the present; we're running a real nation."
Though the line is directly referring to conflict between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, it always makes me think of the challenges startups face after they've achieved their first measure of success. You start with your own personal "Declaration of Independence" (from your previous job), start a company, and then just fight to survive. One day you wake up and it's a real business. The question then is, "Now what?"
Speaking from our own experience growing a fast-moving startup over the past five years, I wanted to offer our advice on what to do next when your startup grows up.
Scaling economically.
Ironically, in a lot of ways, it's easy for a startup to be profitable. The staff is small and working like crazy, and no one expects a huge salary or a ton of perks, so you get a lot of bang for your buck out of the few people you have. You probably don't have an office yet (maybe just a co-working space), so there's not that huge monthly expense hanging over your head. The overhead in general is low, and you're really putting your A-game out there for every possible sale.
Sure, it's not sustainable in the long-term (unless you are cool with regular nervous breakdowns), but in those early days you can often at least break-even, even if you're not rolling in the dough.
Eventually, you realize that your staff does need to grow, or that you do need a place everyone can work centrally. (Though you have to be careful not to add those costs just because they're things you want. See our prior article, Living a Lie: The mistakes that make entrepreneurs go broke.)
Scaling is not without its risks, but there are steps you can take to mitigate those risks. Having a budget is key, obviously, but it is also helpful to map out conditional budgets for if you add various expenses, such as rent (or if you were to have a slow sales month). You can use those to establish a set point for when you're willing to add to your overhead. (For example, once we are regularly at x recurring revenue, we will sign a lease on an office, or hire support staff.) This can allow you to scale at a safe pace, without over-expansion.
Managing changing stresses.
When a startup is new, your main stressor is where the next sale is coming from. As the business grows and acquires clients in greater numbers, some of those stressors go away, and new stressors are added.
One of the biggest headaches in a growing company stems from managing a growing staff. When the company is small, you're operating in your area of expertise. As the company grows, you have to learn more about being a leader. Hiring and managing employees can take a mental toll, especially as you realize that the systems that worked when the company was smaller are no longer sufficient. (For instance, you will likely need to invest in a CRM that can help your new staff navigate their workload. Even if the original startup members don't need it, new employees will.)
Additionally, as you get more and larger clients, the clients themselves will require additional management. It can be hard to deliver the same level of personal attention when your time is spread so thin between them. It will become necessary to delegate some of the customer service duties to other staff (terrifying as that may be).
This is not to say you drop contact with clients, or aren't available when they need something; it just means you unload some of those duties onto other people, so the client can get what they need (even if they're no longer getting it directly from you).
Becoming who you are supposed to be.
It's not uncommon to feel a bit "lost" as your company grows. I experienced a small existential crisis the first time we signed and began work with a new client with whom I myself had never directly communicated. Once I got over the brief panic that I might no longer be needed, I realized how freeing it was, that I knew we could bring in revenue without my involvement. As we grew and hired additional staff, I didn't have to work on every single account; a new admin meant that I didn't have to manage the filing and calendar anymore.
I began to have something almost resembling "free time", and for me, that was terrifying. I had to figure out what to do with myself.
Fortunately, I really enjoy the study of business, in general. I began focusing on how we could improve processes, expand into new markets, and stay ahead of changing trends. I worked for us to become one of the first Xero-certified partners in our area, and began focusing on new business types (B-Corps, for example), so we could be prepared to serve upcoming businesses.
I also started focusing on who I wanted to be as a business leader, and who we wanted to be as a company. In a lot of ways, the company's growth has freed us to circle back to those original goals and mission statement. It's not enough just to grow a successful business; we want to stay in line with why the company was founded in the first place.
It's easy to imagine what you think a business owner should look like (see our article What makes an owner? for some prime examples) and fall into the trap of backing too far off from the company, or becoming an absentee owner. This is not what embracing your changing role means. It means that, instead of ordering business cards, you're calling referral partners (not that you're relaxing on a yacht while the minions do all the work).
It seems ironic that success should bring so many difficulties, but adapting to those new challenges is what sets companies apart. Be flexible, stay committed, and plan for everything you can, and you'll keep the fire you started growing strong.
Working When Overwhelmed
There will frequently be times in your business when you feel overwhelmed. There will be days or weeks when setbacks pile upon themselves, when everything that can go wrong will go wrong, and all at once. And you'll fall behind.
The danger in being overwhelmed is that it can lead to two disastrous pathways: one in which you're paralyzed into inaction by the seemingly insurmountable mountain of tasks before you, or one where you fall prey to the temptation of "multitasking" and fall to pieces trying to do too much at once.
Fortunately, procrastination and busyness are really two sides of the same evil coin. Today we're going to discuss how to catch up on what you need to do, even when the sky is falling.
Let's examine the Who, When, Where, and How of working when overwhelmed.
Who
This seems obvious enough. You, right? Well, if you have employees, there might be some tasks you can delegate. The trick is to assign appropriate tasks in a manner which does not eat up your time or create more work for you. If an employee is already capable and available to take something off your to-do list, that's great. If you are going to have to expend time and energy in explaining the assignment, it is better, while you are behind, to go ahead and do the task quickly yourself. Training can come later when more time is available.
Also, asking an employee to assume additional or different duties is not a time for the two of you to hold a vent session on how busy and behind you are. It's nice to have someone in the business with whom to commiserate, but that will have to come after you're finally caught up.
When
Now! If you are behind on work, start with the first thing on your to-do list and get to it. Don't go make coffee, don't check Facebook "real quick", and don't cultivate your Pandora station. Give yourself little breaks to do those things as rewards for tasks completed. But if you're waiting until everything is "just perfect" to start, you'll never get ahead of the work.
Where
As mentioned before, don't spend too much time getting your environment ideal before you address your to-do list. However, it is imperative that your area be relatively distraction-free. Put your phone on silent; close your office door if you have one. Even if you're in a co-working space, you can put in headphones, or something else that sends the message that you're not available for small talk. Do not have social media tabs open in your browser.
How
Start with taking a quick inventory of everything you need to get done. (No, don't make a complicated, color-coded Excel spreadsheet of your task list. That's just procrastinating with the illusion of working.) Personally, I love the Wunderlist app for keeping to-do lists, as it allows you to make categories and re-order your lists. See what assignments you need to complete first, and what can be put off. (Maybe have a to-do list for today, this week, etc.)
Block off time on your calendar for these tasks. Not only does it help you get in the mindset of, "I am scheduled to work on this, now", it sends a clear message to anyone you work with that you are busy. It particularly helps if you have the sort of business that includes frequent meetings, as it serves as a visual reminder to leave some time for solo work.
Get the first item on your list done as quickly as you can, with no breaks unless absolutely necessary. Check it off your list. Once you have made that first bit of progress, you'll be amazed at how much it motivates you to knock out the next item. Getting a few things out of the way can help you build momentum and feel accomplished. After that, you can battle that "overwhelmed" feeling and start to see that, though you are very busy right now, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and, when you get this backload of work completed, things will calm down for a while.
If work has piled up on you and you're feeling like you'll never be out from under it, try these steps. And stay tuned for our upcoming article on how to get organized and avoid becoming overwhelmed in the first place.