Georgianna Oliver is the founder and CEO of Concierge package, developer of a record package solution for apartment and student housing communities.
Good ideas are the easy part of entrepreneurship. Almost everyone can come up with a business idea, but it takes much more than wishful thinking to turn an idea into a business. It takes more to turn an idea into a business that can grow and prosper even after the original team moves.
New York, meet the tech world scene
5000 Tech leaders coming to New York in November to learn and do business. This is your chance to join them.
To do this requires the founders watching their creation hard earned their business built on long hours and deep risk, and say, "These are not mine. "This is anathema to most entrepreneurs, but it is a necessary step in the creation of an entity that is the greater capacity than one or two people to develop a long term business.
once you start to see your startup as something that is not yours alone, you can start putting in place the elements necessary for the long-term scalability. Here are seven questions to determine if you build a business that can grow beyond your ability to handle all the details:
1. Have we identified the bases, even in the smallest details, including the software and product design, and all requests for trademarks and patents?
When you are in rapid rise mode, meticulous documentation might be the last thing on your mind, but it should be one of the first.
If someone else later stages in the leadership role, this person will need to know all these details that are entered in the company's foundation and its product. If this information exists only in the brain of the founding team, you have limited the future of society.
2. Are we using technology to create an atmosphere of transparency and clarity around critical decisions related to product design, business development, marketing strategy and more?
You can not ensure future success without a solid understanding of the past. This is a difficult truth for companies that store their institutional memories in the brains of their founders.
Technological tools can contain all these details than individual stores, and they are easier to give to new frameworks that could come on board later.
3. Are we going to record customer interactions in a way that will provide an overview of future iterations of the team? If the sales department handed, its new leaders would be able to maintain key relationships?
The happiest customers often feel they have a personal connection with someone inside the company. That's a good thing, but you need a process in place to protect this connection if the employee leaves.
Beyond these simple relationships one-on-one, customer loyalty requires protection systems and strong relationship management process.
4. Do we have created systems that stakeholders (investors, major customers, strategic partners) could tap into knowledge in the business?
How do you share information with these groups? Is there a communication mechanism to ensure they remain current on your new initiatives, products and milestones?
Newsletters, quarterly or yearly, or events in person can help keep them engaged stakeholders.
5. Does our culture in which all employees are entitled to take decisive action, or in which only the founders can drive progress?
At the end of your next 15 hours day, ask yourself if you could have delegated a task that you keep running from sunrise to sunset sun beyond. Be honest with you. If you can not assign one of your responsibilities, your company will not be able to grow.
6. Are we building on the strengths of employees as we grow our team? Are new hires additional extensions of existing staff?
To start, each rental account, not only in terms of placing on the best talent, but also with regard to filling the gaps in skillsets. A cohesive team is the key to growth.
7. Have we created a network of partners, technology providers, installers and others who may be part of our framework for growth?
What happens inside the walls of your organization is important, but the third important players, too. When you make partner, ask yourself if they will be strategic assets for you in the present and the future.
Even if you build a business with the idea that it is not for you, or not completely yours forever, you need to remain vigilant. Building for the scale is not letting go of the reins prematurely.
In the early years of a business, the founders must monitor all decisions of products and all matters of customer support. A well-defined hierarchical structure is a safety net for a young startup -. Who can ensure proper operation, loyal customers and scalability for both short and long term