Starting a business is hard. Navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Is it any wonder that most founders are fiercely protective of their work? After all, it’s the founder who has driven the company to its current level of success.
No one else is familiar with the long list of hardships and mistakes the founder has overcome to get to where they are today. No one knows how many close calls and all-nighters it took. For the staff, this is a job. For a founder, it’s everything. But in order to continue growing, a founder needs to start letting go.
Recognizing the need for change
Eventually, every organization grows beyond the knowledge and capacity of one person. This creates a new tension and is a key contributor to the inertia that many small businesses face, a phenomenon sometimes known as “Founder’s Syndrome.”
This term is widely understood in the non-profit sector, where many organizations start out as a passion project and grow into a valuable service. Governed by a Board of Directors, the power dynamic shifts and the founder may find themselves on the outside looking in. But many people don’t realize that Founder’s Syndrome is just as prevalent in the private sector, where founders feel responsible for making the final decision on every issue that arises instead of trusting their team to deliver.
There comes a time in every founder’s career when they need to reevaluate their role within the company and for many, this can be a struggle. As Straight Lines so eloquently put it: “The hardest part of love is letting go”, and it’s certainly challenging for a founder to know what to let go of, what to hold on to, who to trust, and what their new role should be.
As a business matures and grows in complexity, a founder’s weaknesses are reflected in the organization and moving beyond the founder-led organization by diversifying leadership and responsibility should be a key part of any strategic plan.
Getting started
The first step is for the founder to get a clear understanding of the value they bring to the organization. Staff, clients and even suppliers can see what the founder can’t, but for a myriad of reasons they rarely share this feedback with the founder. That’s why it’s best to have a third party conduct interviews. This enables stakeholders to speak freely without fear of repercussion.
Warning: This feedback can be tough to swallow. If the founder has been creating a bottleneck in the business there is bound to be some pent-up frustration, but getting the dialogue started is worth the discomfort. Once the founder has clarity on their perceived strengths and weaknesses, they can begin the process of evolving their role and working with their team to build a plan for the future.
Connect with BeachHead
At BeachHead, we are passionate about helping businesses scale up from a strong Operations foundation. The BeachHead Organization Audit (BOA) helps founders evaluate their business through an objective lens. Our BOA scorecard allows us to evaluate all aspects of a growing business so we can recommend changes based on what the organization wants to accomplish in the next phase of growth.
If you’re ready to take your company to the next level, reach out and let’s start a conversation.
Email: rdrynan@beachheadstrategic.com
Phone: 416.888-4004
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