Top Three Things to do Consistently to Manage Growth as a Founder

Top Three Things to do Consistently to Manage Growth as a Founder

Are you a founder or entrepreneur wondering when to hire your first or fifth employee?

Trying to figure out when you’ll be able to take a vacation and for how long? Want to be able to work less without productivity declining? Here’s the top three things I learned on my journey as a founder that helped me be able to answer those questions, take a four month long maternity leave, grow an organization from zero to almost $1 million in annual revenue, and lead 50 employees without it all falling apart and being completely dependent on me.

1. Setup processes and systems for everything! Document it all, create short training videos on Zoom, and make each process as simple and easy to follow as possible.

• I hired risk management consultants to identify and offer recommendations for every possible risk or catastrophe that would keep me up at night.

• I hired a law firm on retainer for our staff to utilize if needed.

• We tested and incorporated useful technology and dropped anything that wasn’t working. Don’t get trapped into trying to use all the different tech tools out there! We test everything first before fully committing to it and evaluate it after the testing period. This has helped us decipher what is essential and what isn’t. My favorite tech tools we use: Quickbooks online version (highly recommend starting with a bookkeeping software from day one), G suite, Mailchimp, Squarespace, GiveButter, and Slack.

2. Build up financial reserves. Save 3-6 months worth of monthly expenses as operational reserves. This will act as a buffer and allow for mistakes, risks, and unknowns like Covid,  as well as increased expenses that come with increased growth. Same thing for any new hires, be sure to have at least 3 months of their salary saved before hiring them.

• I did as much of the work as I could on my own and focused on revenue generation and finances every Friday to make sure we could save and build up our reserves for growth.

• I researched other organizations like ours to see what their financials looked like and their staff makeup to get ideas on what milestones we should be reaching at certain financial benchmarks i.e. How many employees should we have at $500,000 annual revenue?

• I don’t add expenses if we are not maintaining 3-6 months worth of reserves at all times. If our reserves start to drop I reduce expenses and focus on building up revenue streams.

• I have clear policies for spending so every dollar is accounted for and approved.

3. Change the way you lead and think. Accept that others will not do the work exactly like you and be ok with 80% efficiency. This is the hardest of the three because it can be very easy to be a perfectionist and be protective over your baby you built. But you have to allow others the room and opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them or else you’ll never grow larger than yourself. Attract the right people and put them in the right seats utilizing their strengths. Spend at least 3 months training and mentoring any new hire you bring on. Then practice letting others lead while you are away before you actually take a leave for a vacation, sabbatical, or illness.

• I hired an executive coach and culture consultants from Culture Circle to help me on my journey as a leader because if you’re not growing as the leader, your organization won’t either. With every step in growth there were new challenges I needed to overcome and learn how to navigate. 

• I had to learn to let go and not micromanage my team so they could learn from their mistakes and decisions. This took creating a recruiting, hiring, on-boarding, and training plan that was synchronized and clear.

• I read books, listened to podcasts and took courses on leading organizations; my favorite books were: From Good to Great, The Emyth, Essentialism, The CEO Test. My favorite courses were: Stanford’s week-long Executive Program in Social Entrepreneurship, RevJen’s Fuel Emerging Series for revenue generation, and Scaling Intimacy for experience design. My favorite podcasts are: Adam Grant’s Work Life, Dare to Lead by Brene Brown and Startup Parent by Sarah Peck.

Whether you’re just starting out or have been running your organization for four years, all three of these tips apply from the beginning and onwards.

Have any tips that have worked for you? Share this post and your tips.