The difference between a successful entrepreneur and a failed one is their attitude. When a product doesn’t work> you adapt it, when you can’t sell enough> you change the market, the sales policy, the tools used, etc., when the market isn’t interested> you change the market, the product or the sales person. For each of the challenges of a business there are at least as many solutions, as long as there is a constructive attitude of the entrepreneur.
In support of a suitable attitude, we share with you 5 steps to follow to take the pulse of your status or to start with the right in entrepreneurship:
STEP 1 – GET SERIOUS ABOUT IT
No matter how small a business is, once established, the entrepreneur engages in direct relations with the state and assumes compliance with a number of laws, regardless of whether he knows them or not. The most important step to take when setting up a company is >>> GET SERIOUS <<< A successful business requires a responsible attitude on the part of the entrepreneur, the assumption of rights and obligations by him towards the entire business ecosystem and not only towards the mission or operations he has proposed. Of course we all know entrepreneurs who have been doing business for many years and yet they are really proud that they do not know the laws or the content of the documents that lawyers or accountants propose to him for signing. We are not saying that there can be no surprises or unexpected chances, but the prepared and documented chances have a special leverage, which we would not want you to miss.
Of course, the lack of seriousness leads to taking important risks that the entrepreneur can take on behalf of the business but also of family, employees or friends. The childishness of a business is the same as that of a 40-year-old, that is, particularly risky and certainly outdated.
STEP 2 – KNOW YOUR OBLIGATIONS
The obligations of the administrator in Romania are described in the Companies Law no. 31/1990, and if the administrator is also an associate, a parallel analysis of the obligations is necessary. Often, the associate also combines the quality of employee and that of administrator. A first step in managing obligations is to understand the separation of these roles and the responsibility that each of the roles entails. And if you’ve heard of delegating responsibilities in practice, here are some ideas to complement:
• The fact that the administrator hires an expert in the field to organize an activity (human resources, accounting, operational technical expertise, etc.) does not absolve him from the obligation to manage the business correctly and in accordance with the law,
• In a country where the concept of integration of legislation is far from being an objective on the executive schedule, the administrator will find himself in the situation of having areas of legislative obligation not covered. This risk can only be managed with a focus on this topic and with the help of a professional who has the ability to integrate the context with the administrator.
• There are few differences between the obligations of an LLC with 1 employee and one with 20 employees. If we eliminate the obligations of HR, there are not many differences between an LLC without employees and one with 100 employees, so the idea that a small company has obligations as it is is not entirely real.
STEP 3 – CREATE A REALISTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH MONEY
The way we educate ourselves in relation to money is indirect for a good period of time. We follow the examples of the family and the environment and we are bombarded by examples and financial urges directed towards consumption. Without exaggerating, the way in which the personal financial situation and the business plan are approached is closely related and requires special attention.
There are many business “mentors” who recommend creating a business without financial resources and remember the minimum cost of setting up an LLC. However, we must not forget that a business at the beginning of the road needs to pay the cost of creating all the systems it will operate with. It seems contradictory when you think that a set up would be free or can really be done without wasting too many resources and that the services you will contract later, after the company starts to be profitable are the ones that will help you become more profitable. In reality, launching a business makes a very serious impression on how it will unfold, and once launched it must contain a system created in the early stages that then only adapts as the business grows. Another aspect we want to emphasize is the mentality of the fixed salary income and a security that the novice entrepreneur seeks to secure from month 1. Without excluding a serious business planning, we believe that the safety beach mentality must be assessed correctly . If creating a business would mean not taking risks and unknowns, not making sustained efforts and not exceeding the limits of an 8-hour / day program, then we would no longer have employees but only entrepreneurs. A correct positioning towards resources in general and towards financial resources in particular, can save us from unnecessary efforts later.
STEP 4 – TEAM-TEAM-TEAM
We agree, a business recipe starts with an entrepreneur who assumes the role of manager. Whether he will manage only a top team, or he will manage the production teams directly, the entrepreneur assumes a manager role from the first moment of the decision on his business mission.
Of course, the first thing to do would be to assume, because the role of manager in the team is what differentiates an entrepreneur from an investor. With this perspective, the entrepreneur can facilitate his mission by identifying his own management style and grinding it in the direction he wants. With the same data, he can adapt his way of communication to ensure that the company’s mobile is understood and duplicated also outside its direct influence.
Clarifying these aspects from the beginning, gives the entrepreneur the opportunity to avoid some of the challenges of team building, to inventory the conditions and criteria for selection but also to set some expectations as realistic as possible on the stages of team building.
STEP 5 – WRITE IT DOWN
The objectives of each employee in relation to the workplace exist, the documents and work steps, the work processes exist. If it is not the entrepreneur who defines the rule together with his team, then his team will define them without an entrepreneur. A healthy way to approach company processes is to document them, right from the planning stage. Compared to this concept, the entrepreneurs in the service area are very reluctant, and the entrepreneurs in the production area consider the stage absolutely normal. However, the need for processing is greater in the service area because the production area is at least partially regulated by the “life-span” of the product. One thing is for sure, when writing the processes of a company, the entrepreneur himself will have countless surprises and will be able to assess more accurately including the financial performance of his company. In the same vein, goals defined in writing are easier to convey and are more likely to be assimilated by the entire team if they are described individually (To get x, we need employee y to achieve goal w daily)
For the young entrepreneur there would be a lot to say and this list could easily be doubled, this mission is not an easy one and not available to anyone but applied to the entrepreneur’s own values can create wonderful incubators, growth ecosystems.
We wish you much success on your journey, we hope it will be a beautiful road, built with ethics and strategy!