Founders and owners need to take the best of big business and implement it into their own company, writes Angus Stevens, CEO and cofounder of Start Beyond. A large corporate gives you a wider lens on how to structure a team to ensure success and growth.
After a huge growth phase in Australian startups, the industry is now experiencing a downturn. The key to weathering the current storm is to have a rock-solid, experienced executive team – the success or failure of your business is determined by this group of people.
A top executive team gives you the freedom to grow in a profound way, with the ability to add value and adapt as the markets change. Experience may come in many forms, but as a business owner I believe there is nothing more valuable than having worked within the inner mechanisms of a large corporate.
The fact is, you don’t know what you don’t know. Big business gives you a wider lens on how companies work on a large scale and how to structure a team to ensure success and growth. Too many times I see entrepreneurs running on a hamster wheel, unable to shift from small thinking within their organisations. All while expecting change to miraculously happen.
Founders and owners need to take the best of big business and implement it into their own company.
Understand the value of each role and department
Small business owners often wear many hats to achieve fluidity across the team. However, in a large corporate each job is carefully curated and assigned to an individual to complete on a more granular level. Working in a large corporate gives you a deep understanding of the cogs within the workforce; the sheer scale of the business stops people taking on too many roles and muddying the water of their specific job description.
Big business showed me the value of performance reviews, feedback discussions and tangible career progression and how critical they are to employees. You may have this on offer in your small business, but to avoid losing good people you need to ensure the process is transparent and communicated to staff.
One of the most important takeaways from big business is the role of HR. It needs to be a simple and accessible process for everyone in your team. HR or people and culture systems give people a lot of psychological comfort. In turn this creates cohesion and morale within your company. So, it’s a no brainer to have this as a priority when it comes to setting up a business model.
Swimming with the big fish
Once you’ve been a part of a corporate structure, you understand that while there are many people at the top of the org chart, not all of them pull as much weight as their wordy titles suggest.
Going into a big meeting as a small business is daunting. You are often riding on making the deal come through, and the other side of the board room table knows they hold the power.
However, if you’ve been in that world previously, you have an understanding of who’s who in the zoo. It gives you the upper hand to comfortably work the dynamic and slide into asking for what you want, from the right person.
Success comes from offering them something that you know that they need, even if they don’t know that they need it. However, if you don’t understand big business dynamics, you can misstep. You may not understand where the true value lies in the group
Dealing with big budgets
I worked in a large corporate that was acquired by another business. When we were introduced to the new executives they gave us an analogy: if you needed 100 metres of rope, the previous owners would give you 110. We will give you 90 metres and you can work out the 10 metres yourself.
That visibility of what an inflated business looks like versus a really frugal business was invaluable. It gave us the tools to figure out how to keep things tracking on “90 metres of rope” when we needed to.
Learning how to manage finances and gain solid business skills without the risk being so high is what you get working in a large corporate. Not only can you learn from the wins and losses without being as invested as you would in your own business, but dealing with big budgets and big overheads are skills that are transferable onto a smaller scale.
These skills include being judicious about knowing where to spend the money. Or looking at the big picture and spotting jobs that need more support and resources in order to make sure you are excelling.
Sometimes you’re going to need to use the full 100 metres of rope, without risking the roof over your head, and other times you’ll be savvy enough to get by on 90.
Build and nurture relationships
My last piece of advice to young entrepreneurs is to build relationships everywhere you go, and more importantly respect them.
You never know when a contact will come in handy on your business journey. Creating a network while working in big business will leave you with a backbone to lean on for support, advice, introductions, and possibly even funding.
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