When people think about starting a new business, they tend to focus on the product or service that they would like to offer. However, they might also consider the people who will form the team and how they will market our idea and bring it to market. Once all that is sorted, it can be tempting to sit back and enjoy the ride.
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However, before you make any assumptions about what could go wrong (or right), there is one more vital area for consideration - getting something out of your workforce other than an increased wage packet.
The challenge faced by modern-day businesses such as startups is this: how do you get employees, who are most likely volunteering their time and energy to the business, to buy into what you're doing and be inspired by it?
To answer this question, you need to look at the different types of functions that a business must carry out in order for it to be considered a success. If all these functions are filled, then there is a greater chance your employees will feel fulfilled in their roles and committed to growing the business, resulting in better outcomes for everyone.
Types Of Functions:
The key elements or types of function which should be present in any successful business can be split into four core areas: Product Development and PM consulting, Business Management, Marketing, and Sales. These four areas represent everything that makes up a modern-day company; understanding each one individually gives you an insight into how they integrate into the bigger picture.
Product Development:
This function represents the heart of any company as it's what drives growth and provides financial stability, which allows other areas such as marketing and sales to thrive. The challenge with Product Development is that everyone has an idea about what should be done, but only those who actively contribute will have their ideas heard and acted upon.
Since most employees tend to work on tasks assigned to them by someone else, if you want your staff to feel like they're truly making a difference, you need to give them some freedom and room for creativity. Not only will this enable them to really own their work and feel a sense of achievement, but it will also get their creative juices flowing and inspire them to new heights.
Business Management:
This is the glue that holds everything together and can be seen as two distinct elements of management - Strategy, and Operations.
The strategy represents how your business behaves in the market (corporate strategy), while operations pertain to how it acts internally (business operations). Unfortunately, many businesses focus on only one of these areas.
However, a good company balances both; without harmonizing them, you run the risk of falling into common pitfalls that many companies face when their corporate and day-to-day activities become disjointed and out of sync with each other.
Strategy alone will not make your employees happy or give them a sense of purpose, nor will focusing solely on business operations produce any meaningful results for either the company or the employees.
Good business management is a careful balancing act that requires a broad understanding of corporate and business operations to be successful.
Marketing:
This function is all about generating interest in your product or service and figuring out the best way to reach customers with your message. Marketing can seem like a convoluted subject that seems very detached from day-to-day activities.
However, every business needs marketing whether they realize it or not because it adds value to whatever you are offering so that people want it enough to buy it. Even if you think no one will notice what you're doing, be sure that someone definitely will, so take pride in what you do and put yourself out there, even if just for the sake of creating awareness.
Sales:
The final function is simple to understand but more difficult to do well because it takes a lot of experience and industry knowledge to know if your approach or pricing is effective. Sales can be challenging for all sorts of reasons, but the most important thing is not to get too caught up in past mistakes as they are just that - past.
Instead, keep pressing forward and trying new approaches without getting discouraged by minor setbacks because there may come a day when one of those approaches pays off big time and brings you closer to your goal.
