Having worked on building a business from scratch for so long on their own, founders often attach their self worth to the success and failure of the business. Their emotional anchor can often hinder objectivity and financial progress of the business and make them nitpicky about the smallest of tasks. Having a strong team becomes pertinent at this stage so that the founder can trust the team to act on certain tasks on their own, while the founder can work towards building a sustainable strategy and chase opportunities for growth.
Along with building a strong team, it is also important to create a hierarchical structure in terms of task allocation and operational involvement. In case of lack of structural distribution, oftentimes founders get dragged into micromanaging operational tasks which eats away from their bandwidth towards the growth and development of the startup. Due to the emotional anchoring, it becomes very difficult for a founder to step away from the compelling need to solve every problem themselves, and it leads to a lack of attention towards the important, strategic scaling tasks at hand that cannot be undertaken by anyone else but the founder. The need to get everything right beforehand, in the long-term can run them out of business before they can even begin generating revenue.
A founder’s burnout negatively affects their decision making and so does an inconsistent narrative. If the founders themselves lack consistency in their communication, it can often lead to faulty decision making that is backed by emotions and influenced by what is happening around them. Every startup has its own unique journey that cannot be compared with their competitors. This can result in them making decisions that are purely driven by incomplete information and strong emotions about their own progress.
In order to overcome these scenarios, it is crucial for a founder to ever so often be able to take a step away from their emotional anchoring and reassess their stance based on the bigger picture. Often, looking at the bigger picture involves seeking information and opinions that contradict the founder’s views. This generally results in more flexible decision making as the founder is now able to act with more confidence. Additionally, a strong foundation built with a trustworthy team can create a sound hierarchical structure that can be adapted and adjusted as the team and startup grows.
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