According to Google
statistics, “Approximately 20-24% of small businesses fail in their first year.
After five years, that number rises to about 50%; by the tenth year, nearly 65%
have failed.” Why? In my experience, it has much to do with a lack of a culture
of discipline, accountability, and results.
It is not that those
who start these businesses are not bright and smart. In fact, entrepreneurs are
individuals whom I admire greatly. They find niches, take risks that others
would not take, and often, through sheer energy, grit, and willpower, manage to
get things off the ground and see significant profits in the short to medium
term, only to see the business fail in the long term.
Why does that
happen? Often, they never transitioned from the mom-and-pop, seat-of-your-pants, unorganized, and unfocused start-up phase to a more mature organization with clarity, discipline, and scalable internal structures and culture, which
could allow it to grow with stability.
New businesses are
often run in a hub-and-spoke management style. The hub is the entrepreneur, and
the spokes are everyone else. Frequently, in this management style, the owner makes major decisions and directs their staff to perform various tasks.
Decision making is centralized in one person, and because they got the business
up and running, they often find it challenging to share decision-making
responsibility with others. They are the experts, and they know what needs to
happen…or so they think!
In that environment,
there is often no team culture where people can strategize, plan, and make
corporate decisions together. The founder finds it challenging to give up
control, so he/she is bound by what he/she knows how to do. They are also bound
by the hub and spoke system, which limits their growth to the size they can personally control. In other words, scalable systems are not developed, people
are not truly empowered, and there is a delegation of responsibility but not
authority, which remains with the owner.
This is what
happened with one organization I worked with. They grew to a
$25 million operation over several years and contracted to a $15 million operation in one year. The lack of internal discipline, team processes,
clarity of roles and responsibilities, and reliance on the owner who always had
the final say meant that the business had a functioning structure but not internal stability,
and it collapsed quickly when it did. The owner had worked in the business,
but not properly on the business, and it had never moved from a mom-and-pop
management style to a mature organizational style. It worked until it didn’t!
And you can imagine the pain of losing 10 million in revenue in one year. The
business almost did not survive.
Perhaps you
recognize some of these challenges in your business or organization. If you do,
I encourage you to get the help you need to move to a more mature organization
with a healthier culture. These principles apply equally to not-for-profit as well as for-profit organizations.
How does this go unnoticed? First, because there are sales and momentum, we assume that all is ok. It is no small thing for a business to be doing 25 million a year in sales. Further, we get used to doing things a certain way, and are comfortable. However, the management needs of an enterprise when it is new differ significantly from those when it is growing in staff and revenue. Third, the skill set of the leader who, through grit and determination, made things happen is critical in a start-up, but not all that the organization needs long term. Finally, the ego of the founder is often a barrier to learning new skills and ways of doing work.
What are some of the differences between mom and pop and mature organizations?
In a mom-and-pop structures:
- One leader often calls the shots in a hub and spoke system
- There is often not great clarity around processes and procedures
- Things change rapidly
- There is not a well defined organizational culture
- There is often loose accountability because of the lack of organizational clarity
- Not a great deal of attention is paid to the internal structures
- Staff training and development is an afterthought if it happens at all
- There is a defined senior team that makes collaborative decisions under good leadership
- Mission, vision, and direction are clear to all, and while methodology may change, the philosophical boundaries of the organization are constant
- There is great clarity at all levels
- There is a high degree of accountability, and promises are kept
- There are regular, carefully crafted management meetings for alignment and accountability
- A clear and healthy organizational culture is in place and adhered to
- Internal structures, processes, and procedures are clear and consistent
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