Sole of Industry
WHEN visiting entrepreneurial hubs, incubators and accelerators, I am often inspired by the high levels of energy I find in these environments. This energy drives people to push themselves further than they normally would, which is great for business.
That is why large companies have their internal innovation departments separate from the rest of the business. They are trying to infuse this part of the business with that unique, innovative energy.
Successful corporations are able to make the best use of this by ensuring that the outcomes from the innovation side of the business are efficiently transported into the rest of the business, allowing managerial and operational teams to execute them.
The challenge is that many entrepreneurs struggle to understand the importance of moving ideas and innovations from the incubation phase into normal business operations. They miss the fact that, as an entrepreneur, you have to ensure that you or your team play the multitude of roles needed to move from design to execution — you cannot afford to spend years in the infancy stage.
If the team lack the capabilities to do so, it might be time to revisit the team composition.
For example, if we assume there are three major roles critical to the success of an entrepreneurial venture, as suggested by the international bestseller The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It, by Michael Gerber, you realise that the entrepreneur needs to play the entrepreneurial part, Employees work on traditional cloth shoes in Yiyuan county, Shandong province, China, this week technical part and managerial part for the business to succeed. Ignoring any element of these often results in business inefficiency, and eventual failure.
The energetic high that comes from finally being able to follow that entrepreneurial dream is also the reason many end up being stuck in the entrepreneurial and technical side of the business, instead of assuming the managerial role too.
As a result, years later, teams are still working out of their parents’ garages, unable to manage an idea from incubation to sustainable profitability. They work long hours, while cash-strapped, without much managerial support. No financial, marketing, managerial and operational processes are in place.
Because so many entrepreneurs are stuck in this manner, albeit still energised by it, others often believe this is what entrepreneurship is all about. They, too, fall for the trap of believing it is OK to be spending years “struggling” as an entrepreneur, instead of figuring out how to transition from the struggle of starting a new venture to the struggle of building a sustainable business.
This entrepreneurial high is why some of the most respected entrepreneurs in the world, especially on the technology side, almost always end up having to relinquish the management of their business to someone who is better able to handle it. Sometimes this transition is critical for ensuring that the business survives past the entrepreneurial struggle phase.
Aside from the overemphasis of the entrepreneurial side, others never really manage because they are stuck on the technical side of the start-up. This is especially true of those who quit their jobs because they hated having a boss telling them what to do. Instead of managing themselves and their team, they end up acting exactly like the employee they used to be, focused on getting the technical work done — the only change being that there is no boss doing the managerial work.
There is much to be done on the technical side to get the job done, especially given that there are few hands available in the early stages. But it is important to balance this with the managerial and directional needs of the business. Otherwise it cannot become a sustainable business — it is just another job being done by a former employee who now operates without any guidance, direction or support.
I am not advocating that all entrepreneurs start overemphasising the managerial parts of their business. Doing so often kills the energetic, innovative spirit that comes from working with no rules and no constraints. However, there needs to be a balance of focus between the entrepreneurial, technical and managerial sides of the business, either by the founding team stretching themselves in different ways, or by bringing others on board who can fill the capability gaps.
In fact, Gerber believes that we all have a little bit of all three elements in us — we just need to learn how to balance them.
Are you building a business or are you building a start-up? Every entrepreneur should ask themselves this, because it informs how the next couple of years will play out.
Sikhakhane is a business speaker, facilitator and adviser on leadership, entrepreneurship and Africa, with an MBA from Stanford University