Your business has been going for several years now and is well established.
You’ve managed to navigate the choppy waters at the beginning of your voyage and now you’ve anchored your business in the smooth seas of a favourable ecosystem, well-positioned within the value chain.
You’ve found the right economic model that has enabled you to grow and get to where you are today. However, you’re aware that this business model may need to evolve in response to new market demands and the competition. After all, the phenomenon of « uberisation » threatens many sectors, so what’s to stop it affecting yours?
The organisation is well established. Employees are generally competent. Nevertheless you’re always too busy with operational tasks and it’s very difficult to see the bigger picture. You have the sense that everything depends on you and that your company is affected by the « one man show » syndrome, with problems of delegation and sharing of tasks.
You’ve little appetite for risk. It often takes a long time (too long?) to make an investment decision or launch new products. You find lots of reasons to avoid taking the plunge and getting going. There’s no doubt that there’s less risk-taking in an established SME, because the Owner/Manager has something to lose: their asset!
Currently the growth of your business is stagnating. Certainly, the economic situation is less than favourable and many of your competitors are not doing much better. Nevertheless, you’re wondering what you need to do to restore momentum and reboot the machine. You’re seeking a second wind that will enable you to embark on a real growth project. No need to search further! Just recapture the energy of your « pioneering phase », to rediscover your « start-up » mindset!
SO WHAT IS THE « START-UP » mindset?
IT CAN BE SUMMARIsED AS FOLLOWs:
- A way of working and a mode of operation that stimulates innovation, strengthens team spirit and makes you more responsive. This way of working is characterised by:
- A friendly working environment
- A sense of moving forward
- Continual communication
- Anti-routine initiatives
- Ongoing risk-taking
- Great speed and agility in establishing the economic model that works (it’s a matter of survival!)
IT’S ALSO INTERESTING TO look at THE SIX CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD START-UP CREATOR:
- They are able to create and maintain professional relationships: having a good network saves time and enables them to react quickly in the critical launch phases;
- They have a positive frame of mind: a fierce optimism helps bring together energies and motivate the team. In general, people are more attracted by the glass half-full than the glass half-empty;
- They can listen and receive feedback. This is the key to taking advantage of the shared experiences and capabilities of the team.
- They learn quickly. This is the basis of the agility needed to adapt quickly and find the right economic model.
- They have integrity. Integrity is necessary for the trust on which team spirit can be built.
- They are ambitious. They think big and give themselves few limits.
HOW TO REDISCOVER THIS « START-UP » mindset?
HERE ARE SOME WAYS to try:
- Move out of your comfort zone. As Ranulph Fiennes the English explorer says: « On leaving your comfort zone, all your senses become alert and you immediately ask yourself the right questions. »
- Revaluate your company goals and align them with your personal goals. « Give yourself permission to once again dream about your company’s future ».
- Recreate a project, redefine a Vision and a Mission that will energise the company and motivate its staff.
- Define a real growth strategy and deploy it through operational plans covering the four other drivers of growth: Marketing, Commercial, Finance and Organisation.
- This new organisation that you are going to set up will have to be based on a true delegation of tasks. It will be built on trust and shared responsibility.
Such an approach will allow you to re-engage the virtuous circle of profitable growth that will give your business the boost it needs. It will allow you to recapture the energy of your « pioneering phase » and to make your entrepreneurial experience even more rewarding.