Breaking out of Founder Mode

You as the founder (and other co-founders) have built the start up to the stage where scaling up looks feasible and viable.

You’ve started to put a team together, funding looks good and everything seems to be falling into place.

 

But the growth seems slow and you and your co-founders seem to be working harder and harder.

 

One of the common barriers to scaling up is the role of the start-up founder(s) – they are doing too much.

 

In effect they are the weak link in the scale up and create a bottleneck for all decisions – even the most basic ones.

 

The purpose of building a team for scaling up is for them to do the work while the founder(s) start to step back form the day to day operational issues.

 

The common phrase is – you need to work on the business rather than in it.

 

This is a big challenge for everyone.

 

How to change things?

 

Some fundamental steps:

  • When recruiting the team make certain there is a clear job description but with the understanding that the business is growing and evolving so duties and responsibilities will change over time.
  • This may not suit everyone so this may be a factor in your selection
  • Build systems and processes that everyone can understand and work to
  • Train all staff in the systems and processes as part of their induction
  • Create a reporting system which pulls together the key numbers that drive the business
  • All of the above creates a framework that enables delegation while keeping control
  • It provides the team with confidence to take responsibility for day to day activities – that’s what you’re paying them for
Check out the section on Building a Team.

 

Now for the important part of being a leader and creating a culture that encourages sharing knowledge and ideas and builds a strong team at every level.

 

  • Don’t blame people for mistakes
  • Remember the mistakes you made in the start-up phase
  • Separate yourself from the “shop floor” of daily activity
  • A separate office can be a good idea, particularly in the early stages
  • It means the staff aren’t always looking to you for decisions or approval
  • Have a closed door policy but encourage staff to knock on your door to ask for help if they have a genuine problem
  • Help them fix problems and learn from the issues so they can solve similar problems on their own
  • Again, don’t blame people for mistakes