Uncertainty and inevitably are two common themes in the startup business. When a problem inevitably crops up, we’re still surprised and we’re unsure about what to do. This mostly comes from problems showing up without warning, not knowing which is the best path to take, how to react, or not having the resources to resolve them. Is there a way you can prepare for such scenarios?
Good to Great
by Jim Collins
⏱ 16 minutes reading time
🎧 Audio version available
There are over 150 million startups around the world, give or take. Every year, 50 million startups enter the market. Within the first year, 10% of them fail. Failure is also most common during years two through year five with most startups unable to come out on top after facing common hurdlers.
What’s the first step to approaching solving most common startup problems?
List all the possible solutions.
When something crops up, your first instinct may be to panic but always remember that you know more than you think you do. Take a deep breath and list everything you know. You can overcome this. A brainstorm is just in your future. Leave a lot of room for creativity. Even if it’s just a couple of solutions you can come up with, write them down. Separate them then into which one is more realistic.
Evaluate them next. What are each option’s pros and cons? Which one comes out on top? Is there any way to put a number of options together for an ultimate solution?
Slow Down
Racing to conclusions, making rash decisions, and not giving the problem the attention it needs is one way to rush a company’s demise. Truly effective problem solving takes a lot of attention and care. A solution that’s been made hastily and not given that much care will either A) not solve the problem or B) only temporarily solve it, which is just as effective as not solving it at all.
You need to slow down. A healthy, memorable way to pace yourself is to think of a problem like a bump or a curve in the road. Do you go at it at full speed and head-on? Or do you slow down and do what’s best to keep your car in top shape?
A lot of problems and their solutions, especially in startups, don’t strictly adhere to a linear line. Sometimes, you have to go back to an earlier step; sometimes, things pop up that didn’t before, etc.
Slowing down, being careful, and giving the problem the attention it needs can be done by one person, or if the decision is particularly difficult, consulting several people or a group can make all the difference. The more difficult a problem, the more necessary it is to be more disciplined in how you go about it.
Communication is key
Whether it’s your first startup or not, a new startup overall can mean a new team that has to figure out how to work together, how to be the most productive, and not to step on anyone’s toes. Even in the best companies, communication between members of a team can be a challenge.
That’s why one of the keys, the best tricks, to approaching a problem is to have an ironclad communication system with your team. It directly contributed to your business’ success. Communication efficiency varies from team to team. Some do well under regular meetings. Others prefer online chat rooms. That way, it’s easy to contact each other, share and send files, and get the word out.
Manage Your Time
Did you know that one of the biggest issues that entrepreneurs face is actually poor time management? And that doesn’t just apply to how many hours they work or how many hours they sleep. That, too, applies to problem-solving.
It happens; a startup is faced with more problems than they have the time or resources to properly solve in a way they’re familiar with. Of course, most would try to solve all of these problems all at once. In hindsight, this probably looked efficient or productive, but the results say otherwise. The less you manage your time, the more you try to tackle, the more you spread yourself too thin; the weaker your solutions are. In the meantime, precious time that could be spent on more beneficial work is wasted.
So what’s the solution? How to approach this seemingly insurmountable hurdle? You can’t just ignore one problem in favor of another, right?
Well, actually, it depends. A big part of being an entrepreneur is seeing what the most efficient things are and what aren’t. What is truly urgent? And what can be delayed until tomorrow? Is there someone that can help take the load off?
Don’t Be a Jack of All Trades
Speaking of someone that can help take a little of the stress load off, one way to approach solving most common startup problems involves what not to do, and it’s trying to be a jack of all trades. Don’t forget that the saying states “Jack of all trades, master of none.”
A lot of CEOs warn that after experience, spreading themselves too thin, dealing with busy work and the more administrative type tasks greatly damaged their problem-solving abilities. An entrepreneur knows that their time is significant, and it shouldn’t be largely overtaken by busy work or smaller tasks; not when bigger issues are rising elsewhere. You’ll later see that your productivity will even dramatically increase once you get the handle of delegating those tasks or outsourcing them.
Another plus delegating offers is the indispensable advice that another expert can offer you. You never know; maybe they could be the ones to help you overcome the problem your startup faces. Stop trying to do everything on your own. A helping hand makes all the difference.
Plan Ahead
You would think that most challenges your startup may face are unexpected ones, but you would be surprised to hear that you can have contingencies in plan so that you won’t be so caught off guard. Plan ahead as much as possible. Cover your bases: sales, funding, developing, et cetera, from the get-go.
These worst case strategies shouldn’t be an afterthought. Of course, you can’t prepare your startup for every scenario, but you can prepare yourself for what you’re going to have to do if push comes to shove. As they say, “if you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.”
Take an Analytical Approach
When in doubt, going for an analytical problem solving approach will rarely lead you astray. What analytical problem solving methods do is dive into the details of a problem. They then are able to examine all components and evaluate them, determine what’s missing, and prepare ahead for the next steps. Analytical thinkers are more confident in their problem solving, and that is because they know their decisions are supported by careful planning and thoughts. True, their decision may not move quickly, but they’re the most effective.
SCAMPER
SCAMPER is an acronym. It stands for substitute, combine, adapt, modify, put to another use, eliminate and reverse. It’s a collection of techniques introduced by Bob Eberle. And you can choose to use just one of the seven techniques or employ all seven to solve a problem concerning a product or service.
The first is “substitute,” and it encourages entrepreneurs towards looking deeper into the problem. If it’s something wrong with a product or service, consider substituting it for something else.
Next is “combine.” Ask yourself if you could improve this problem by combining it with another service or product. Or could you combine several solutions together to come up with the ultimate one?
“Adapt.” Could this problem be solved if you adapted your product/service to another audience?
Then “modify.” Which features could be more beneficial if you modify them?
“Put to another use.” Could your product be put to another, better use?
“Eliminate.” What are some features that you can eliminate that will ultimately improve the product?
Lastly, you want to think about “reverse.” This is where you consider reversing or rearranging your technique and changing the order of your production line’s process.
Employ the 5 Whys
Next, we have another sound technique: the five whys.
The 5 Whys technique aims at helping you get to the bottom, to the root of a complex.
First, ask yourself why this problem occurred. And then continue down that same line of thought. What you want is to ask yourself “why” a total of five times. You’ll find yourself closer and closer to the root of the problem with each question.
The Means-End Analysis
Finally, utilize the means-end analysis to surmount any problem and keep your head up high. A lot of time, especially after facing one problem after another, we forget what we originally hoped to accomplish and business becomes more about just surviving instead of the vision you once had.
The means-end analysis alters the focus. It shifts it from the problem, which you may be feeling overwhelmed from, and guides it to the end goal that you want to accomplish.
You want to envision your goal and work backwards from there. Identify all the hurdles and obstacles that are blocking your path. Then one at a time, figure out the solution to each. The means-end analysis breaks bigger problems into smaller, manageable obstacles. And when you have that end goal in mind, it can further push your decision-making skills
What Is Snapreads?
With the Snapreads app, you get the key insights from the best nonfiction books in minutes, not hours or days. Our experts transform these books into quick, memorable, easy-to-understand insights you can read when you have the time or listen to them on the go.
