It is so much fun to start a business,especially if you have done the necessary market research and are confidentthat what you provide is in line with a specific market need and you know you can sell ice to an Eskimo. It is then just a matter of identifying your target market and telling them that their lives will never be the same again -because you have the solution to their need.

The next phase is about choosing the name ofyour new company, designing the logo and tagline, finding premises, forgingrelationships with suppliers, etc. etc. It is like going on honeymoon. You dream of the good life this business is going to provide,what you are going to do with all the profits, where you are going to travel to. But most forget that the honeymoon phase ends.

Just as you start thinking that the first couple of clients were secured quickly and easily, you start having anxietyattacks about whether you are going to be able to service them adequately,whether they will be happy with the product, whether there will be returns orrejections. None of those fears become a reality and soon more clientsfollow.

You just cannot cope with the work load anymore - working until three in the morning trying to get everything done. The cash flow is becoming a problem as you have to service all these clients, so you have to appoint staff and, while you feel like all your dreams are coming true, you cannot understand why you have no quality of life anymore. Never mind a holiday, you just want to spend a weekend with yourfamily.

Before you know it, you have lots of staff and the overwhelming feeling you have is not one of pride and exhilaration, butone of chaos and exasperation. You have to make a plan as you know thatyou cannot carry on like this forever.

There are many studies about the entrepreneuras the first tier manager versus the second tier manager. Churchill and Lewis (2000) describe five different phases of business growth: existence,survival, success, take-off and maturity. It is during the success phasethat entrepreneurs suddenly feel trapped in unfamiliar territory. They had gotten used to the struggle, now have approximately twenty employees and,while they have to get used to the success, they have to manage all theseemployees too.

The entrepreneur has to make a transformation to being a leader. Certain decisions have to be made, such as growth strategies and forecasts. Often at this stage the founder of the company is replaced by a manager leader, especially when the entrepreneur is not able to make the transformation quickly enough. The challenge is to manage the cashflow required by growth while maintaining the small business advantages that brought about the success, such as flexibility and a sense of community.

For those entrepreneurs who want to continue to manage their own companies, certain skills have to be developed rapidly:

• Managerial skills and disciplines
• Operational skills such as business process management
• Trust in employees and the ability to delegate
• The ability to develop different divisions in the organisation in order to appoint a 2nd layer of management
• To develop a strategic management style
• The ability to track and manage performance
• Standardisation of processes in order to deliver a uniform product or service

Only entrepreneurs that are secure in themselves, who never feel threatened by superior abilities in employees, willbe able to successfully grow their companies into the maturity phase. Nobody can know everything and one of the secrets to success is to surround yourself with skills and abilities that, as an entrepreneur, you do not have. In order to do this, the entrepreneur has to see the organisationas a whole, comprised of necessary components; human resource management,supply chain management, financial management, quality control, technology andproduction. All of these components must support and sustain the mainproduct or service and work towards creating automation and reliability throughout the organisation.

The first requirement when attempting tofoster such an environment is to recruit the correct people to manage these components. Therefore, the first skill an entrepreneur will have todevelop is human resource management. In order to bring together the ideal team, it is necessary to have a clear growth strategy and do the appropriatecapacity planning according to job specifications in order to recruit thecorrect people for the necessary positions. From the minute the first employee is in place, the responsibility is on the entrepreneur to make thetransformation from entrepreneur to leader.

But what is a good leader? To be a leader it is important to lead by example,to set the vision of the organisation and to live accordingly. If employees do not trust the leader’s ethical standards and capabilities,nobody will follow. When they follow, they will follow inprofessionalism, dedication, enthusiasm and passion for the organisation. A fear of failure in the leader will be transferred to the team and be astumbling block in the formation of a cohesive team. A leader has to trustin him/herself and have a knowledge and faith in his/her own abilities. Nobody will believe in an entrepreneur if he doesn’t believe inhimself. With that type of self-believe, the leader must give strongdirection in the organisation. The art of sound decision making is ofutmost importance. A negative leader will transfer negativity to theteam, which in turn will impact on the clients and client relationships.

The road of an entrepreneur is not an easy one and many a challenge will be encountered along the way. When the entrepreneur has made the transitionfrom entrepreneur to leader, these challenges will be approached in a calm andrational manner. The entrepreneurial leader will also keep the main objectives in mind and adhere to the principles and policies of the organisation when challenges arise.

With such a leader as well as sound operational management, the organisation will grow from a start-up to a mature company benefitting the entrepreneur and all stake holders.

Francesis the MD of Trinitas Consulting - a supplier specialising in creating profitability through the integration of communications, marketing andoperations. An entrepreneur herself - Frances has had 14 years experiencein the communications industry and with a BSc Industrial Technology andManagement (Honours) and an MBA, she specializes in the operational health ofcompanies assisting them to create sustainability. She is currently busy with her PhD in Entrepreneurship. Visit www.trinitas.co.za for more information.

---

Share this article