7 HUGE Challenges Facing Entrepreneurs Today

Posted by Rachel Flower / July 27th, 2016 / No responses

We’ve got a number of online products and membership options launching for our clients in the Autumn (which we’re really excited about.)

They are all around the theme of GROWTH.

Because we know from our years of legal experience that what our entrepreneurial clients want more than anything is to be able to grow.

To have a sustainable business for the long term (whether that’s securing revenue/profits or to be able to build and then sell the business down the line). Particularly in these uncertain economic times, we all want to achieve a level of robustness – to have a  business model which is strong, protect our brand and assets, and be able to withstand pressure from competitors or external factors.

At Serenwood we’re usually coming at it from a commercial contracts angle. But because we’re trusted advisors to our clients, then the things we advise on range from supply chain to solving disputes to cost savings to strategic negotiations and distribution or import deals. We help you with anything and everything which impacts the strength and sustainability of your business. If we don’t know how to help, then we invariably know someone who can.

What we’re sharing in the blog today is some brilliant information which we’ve derived from the market research we’ve done in developing these new products. We’ve carried out a number of surveys, interviews, workshops and online webinars in order to get a deeper understanding of the challenges you face in growing your businesses. (This is to ensure that as we build out the content for our courses & products we’re genuinely solving the problems you face around growth).

If you’re reading this as a business owner then it’s going to be a fascinating read, and no doubt will also reassure you that all the many and varied problems and doubts and issues which you’ve been facing are ones which are shared widely by others every day. You are not alone!

In order to keep the blog post short(ish) we’re only talking today about the challenges themselves – and not getting too much into problem solving or what the solutions can be. That’s for another day. But rest assured we’ll be covering solutions and advice on all these challenges (and more) by way of future blog posts – as well as within the new services we’re launching.

OK…Here we go!

1. CASH FLOW AND KEEPING ON TOP OF NUMBERS

Yep, this one is a killer for growing businesses. Keeping a tight handle on the money in/money out is absolutely critical to success (or failure) of a business as it grows. And it’s number one headache for Mr/Mrs Business Owner, because increasing sales/team/suppliers/products inevitably leads to increased bills/debts/liabilities/admin workload. So many business owners end up in a mess with their numbers or alternatively keeping on top of the numbers but at the detriment of other areas of the business. Ironically, many businesses fail not just because of lack of cash flow (although that is a key reason – estimated around 33% of business failure is due to lack of cash) but because the business owner has got so bogged down in the (boring) job of managing financial information that they give up. After all, we went into business to have fun…who wants to spend hours and hours poring over numbers and bills and chasing debts.

This of course is a key area which can be outsourced. Hiring a great accountant, outsourcing the admin side to a brilliant bookkeeper, or recruiting a Finance Manager will make immeasurable difference to keeping on top of cash flow and financial reporting. The business owner needs to know how and when to outsource the financial tasks, whilst also keeping a tight rein on understanding the information & making great decisions based on the numbers at the appropriate time.

(You can email us hello@serenwood.co.uk to get a copy of our free guide “21 Tips for Supercharged Cash Flow” – and we’ll also send you the webinar that goes with it.)

2. WORKLOAD & RESOURCE, TALENT & HIRING

Which brings us nearly onto “lack of resource” and “not being able to outsource” and “delegation”. This cluster of challenges came up time and again in our research. Small to medium size businesses struggle to outsource appropriately. This means that business owners (or management team) then spent precious time on administrative of non-value add tasks, taking them away from the core of the business and simultaneously making them stressed and miserable. Many of our clients have run into problems when outsourcing, e.g. the job haven’t been completed properly or to deadline or costs overran. Experiences like this put them off from trying again.

But outsource we must if we are to grow. Todd Herman, Founder of the 90-Day-Plan, trains exhaustively on this. As a business owner you have to identify the tasks which generate the most £revenue and concentrate the vast majority of time on them. Lower value tasks have to be outsourced as soon as it is financially viable to do so. You have to get really good at delegation and clear on your priorities so that the business goals are directly focussed on the things which bring in money (and maximise profits)

Leading neatly again onto People. Or more appropriately, the Right People. We suffer from this problem ourselves so it resonates deeply and we understand it. Particularly in service-led businesses, people are our most important asset. Finding them, persuading them to join, and then retaining them is an art and a full time business in itself! I was with a friend the other day who is a partner in one of the Big 4 accountancy firms and she was bemoaning the same problem. So it’s certainly not just a challenge for the small business – it’s universal. But we do know that it hits the smaller businesses harder, because of the sheer cost of recruitment, employment and when things go wrong.

Something important to mention is that when your business is really clearly branded and has a strong alignment with its values, then the People problem becomes less acute.

3. TIME MANAGEMENT, FOCUS & WORKING TO A PLAN

I hate the phrase “time management” but at least it’s one you all know and understand. What it really means in this context is once an established business is doing well and starting to grow, then the previous asset of time becomes at a premium for Mr/Mrs Business Owner. Who then ends up feeling…. overworked, overcommitted, frustrated, stressed, too little time vs too many tasks, losing quality of life because workload is too huge.

It’s the contradiction of owning a business. “Yes, we have freedom & independence & we captain our own ship. But oh, hang on, suddenly I’m working way harder than I did in my 9-5, spend vast amounts of time on tasks I don’t enjoy, my ship is constantly running onto the rocks and there’s no bugger else to take the steering wheel. Oh did I mention I’m getting paid less than in my 9-5 too?”

It’s no wonder that so many entrepreneurs have that whisper in the middle of the night “Shall I just go back and get a Proper Job“?

This one is one of the trickiest to fix. It’s a combination of a number of factors (including the 3 above which we’ve just covered) and it’s about getting really clear on boundaries, focussed on priority activities and disciplined with diaries.

Having a Business Plan is a non-negotiable for a growing business. I’ve heard many coaches/trainers saying “you don’t need a plan” and it makes my blood boil. Without a plan, how do you know where you’re going? How can you make decisions and know what opportunities to accept or reject.

The important thing to remember about business planning is that it doesn’t need to be a long drawn out process. It always doesn’t need to be complicated and it doesn’t need to be set in stone. The opposite in both cases. You can keep it very high level (more like a blueprint or a roadmap or vision document) and you can keep it moving and evolving over time (indeed, this bit is essential because you need to consistently review what is working well and what is not working well, and tweak accordingly). A great resource on this is the “12-Week Year” by Brian Moran and Michael Lennington, where you can learn easy to implement techniques for short term planning. Which btw also links of course to improving delegation/effective use of time/outsourcing.

4. CONTRACT DISPUTES & GETTING PAID

Yep, this one is close to our heart. Many of the business owners we’ve spoken to have experienced the pain of falling out with a customer/supplier/partner and losing money or not getting paid. It’s impossible grow a sustainable business and not begin to trip up around contracting relationships. This business law stuff is the bread and butter of robust business. Yet for many businesses it’s one of the areas they are most afraid of and unclear about. Contracts are perceived as scary, the legal world is seen as mysterious and complex, and it’s an area where shortcuts are taken because the outgoing costs can feel unpalatable. We heard lots of stories about relationship breakdowns, lengthy court battles, time consuming deal negotiations which ended up in tears. We also heard great stories about lawyers saving the day and helping a business get back on its feet, but the majority of stories were about the business owner not knowing how to fix legal problems and not knowing where to go for the right help (at the right cost and in a decent timescale).

The challenge of getting paid is closely linked to Cash Flow (point 1 above), but its worth re-iterating in this context because small businesses can take much of the uncertainty around payments away by simply having clear contracts and well communicated customer/supplier relationship processes. We heard that many business owners dislike talking money (and this is relevant to the challenge of sales strategy too – see below) and this ends up being a barrier to growth.

5. CUSTOMER SERVICE & SALES STRATEGY

By this we’re covering a broad spectrum of challenges. The challenge of winning new business, retaining customers, getting repeat business. Attracting the RIGHT kind of customers and turning them into walking ambassadors and raving fans for your business. How to get rid of the wrong type of customers and what to do with disputes. The time consuming challenge of getting the customer service spot on and engaging with customers for feedback to help you improve.

Again, it’s an evolving process and as the business grows (new services/products, new team members, more complex offerings) it needs constant review. But customer satisfaction is a huge indicator of success (and robustness) in any business model. Things like testimonials, reviews, referrals are ever more important in today’s online world and disgruntled customers are a huge challenge for very business. Setting a clear sales strategy, knowing who you’re selling to, why they need you, what problem you solve for them and how you’re delivering it – are all critical factors in successful growth.

A challenge which was talked about a lot in our market research was how to retain the balance between growth and customer experience. Businesses which grow too fast often inadvertently compromise on the customer experience and can end up in costly contractual disputes.

Here at Team Serenwood we talk a lot about under-promising and over-delivering. We always try to manage our client’s expectations on what we can do, and then we try to exceed their expectations by going the extra mile. We’re not perfect and we continue to learn. We’re only a small team, after all, and we do know there’s nothing worse than letting a valued customer down.

6. TECHNOLOGY (AND MAKING IT WORK FOR YOU)

This is currently a huge barrier for many small businesses. The business world is more complicated than ever before. We all know we have infinite options to tap into the global online market. We all want to embrace technology as a way of getting our products/services to market quicker than our competitors. We all know we need to be innovating and creating and coming up with new ideas which are ahead of (or at least aligned) with advances in technology. There are a vast array of options out there for achieving certain outcomes when looking at technology and it’s easy to get caught up in the quagmire of decision making.

Many of the business owners we spoke to have ended up in paralysis, by which we mean “doing nothing.” When presented with a whole range of options [and remember we are also busy and have a zillion other things to do that day] decisions around technology tend to get delayed and pushed aside. Bad purchasing decisions around technology lead to burnt fingers. And let’s not forget that learning new technology and teaching our teams and changing over systems is time consuming.

The problem with this particular challenge is that – when done right – embracing technology is a sure fire way to skyrocket your business. Automating systems and processes will save costs, improve customer experience, free up business time, eliminate boring tasks & improve profit margins. All perfect ways to engender healthy growth.

7. BRILLIANT BRAND… AND BRAND PROTECTION

Something all growing businesses struggle with is getting their brand right. This is so much more than just colours/logo/trading name. It encompasses everything from values, voice, target audience, PR, differentiation in the marketplace, loyalty and marketing. And not forgetting of course that your BRAND becomes one of your most important pieces of IPR (intellectual property) which can be worth ££££s. The more you grow, the more important and more valuable your brand (and your IPR) becomes. For large companies, IPR can be a sizeable part of its balance sheet.

We help many clients with issues around brand protection. For many business owners, they don’t even appreciate the critical importance at the outset and so brand is something which evolves gradually and is a process of hit and miss, learning from mistakes, tweaking and fixing as we go.

On the flip side, there were a number of business owners we spoke to who had spent TOO MUCH time on branding in the early days. Worrying (and getting) stuck on issues which didn’t need to be solved right at that point in time. As an entrepreneur, we have to remember that “DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT.” Perfectionism is our enemy. Our clients and customers have problems which need to be solved, and the quicker we get that solution to them then the happier they will be. And of course, the happier the business owner because sales and happy customers are always a great thing for any brand!

At the heart of branding issues is simply knowing what you do, who you do it for, and why you do it. The work of Simon Sinek (Start with Why) is a great resource in this area if you’re struggling with branding right now.

Let us know whether you can relate to these challenges in your business. What’s missing from this list which is critical for you?

Hey, hope you’re not feeling too depressed from reading this mammoth list of challenges. We business owners love a challenge, right? It’s all the fun of being an entrepreneur – variety is the spice of life, as they say.

The key thing is knowing that you do have the ability to solve each and every one of these problems. We’ll be back soon to talk about HOW.

hello@serenwood.co.uk