6 Challenges Females Founders Face... And How To Overcome Them (Part 2)
This is Part 2 of a 3 Part Series. Click here for the first article in this series.
Last week, we began a series on the challenges female founders face when they hit big revenue milestones.
This week, we’re tackling challenges 3 and 4. Before we get to that though, let me tell you a story.
In 2017, I went on a Kenyan safari to celebrate work I had done for a big part of the year in Ethiopia. The trip began with a riot in the Addis Ababa airport and a frantic run through security to get on the plane, once they regained some semblance of control. The drive from Nairobi to Masai Mara was long, hot, bumpy - SO bumpy - and dusty, but the landscape was gorgeous. The safari was everything I imagined. Lions, elephants, zebras, and even an elusive rhino and leopard. It was absolutely magical. A dream I’d always had was finally coming true, and even better it was a celebration of really great work I’d done for a client.
But the trip wasn’t all sunshine and happiness. I was put in a situation where I didn’t totally feel safe. The ride home was jarring to my whole body and so, so dusty. The last of my Kenyan shilling was gone, and I didn’t have any cash. I was delivered to the wrong hotel and then had to taxi, filthy and out of money, to my new hotel. I was exhausted, stressed, and covered in grime.
From the picture above you can see the coating of dirt on my face, and I felt beat up from the deep ruts in the road and the worry coursing through me. What was an awesome trip and celebration was also tinged with anxiety.
This is often the case with business owners when they hit big financial targets or important milestones in their growth. The joy and happiness is quickly clouded with worry that the success will last or be repeatable, that you’ll be able to deliver on your promises, that your customers will be happy… the list goes on.
When you know potential challenges lurk in the lead up to or on the other side of success, you can proactively plan for and mitigate them. Challenges 3 and 4, with some strategic thinking, strong mission alignment, and preemptive action, can easily be avoided.
Business Challenge #3: Limited resources
Hitting big revenue milestones may seem like a gift - and it absolutely can be - but it often requires more resources to sustain that growth. This can include hiring additional staff, investing in marketing and advertising, upgrading equipment and technology, and leasing larger office space. All of these expenses can add up quickly and impact the amount of resources available for other business needs.
Even if a business is generating significant revenue, it doesn't necessarily mean that cash flow is consistent or readily available. Delays in payment from clients, unexpected expenses, or uneven sales cycles can all impact the amount of cash available to reinvest in the business. This also includes potentially higher taxes and increasing complexity around tax laws and regulations.
SOLUTION
Reconnect with your business’s vision and mission.
This helps ensure your investments align with your core values and the purpose of the business, leading to more efficient and effective use of resources. It’s also an opportunity to focus on high-impact initiatives and consider alternative financing options such as crowdfunding or grants, and unique collaboration opportunities with other businesses or organizations to leverage shared resources.
Leverage your strategic plan.
Your strategic plan leverages your business’s vision, mission, and values. It guides your organizations day-to-day priorities and can be a powerful tool to proactively tackle upcoming resource limitations. If you know demand is increasing for your services, you can begin staffing up for positions where a particular expertise or skill set will be needed, invest in training and development, or acquire new technologies to help streamline operations.
Automate your processes.
Automating repetitive tasks and processes can be a massive time- and cost-saver for you and your team. This includes using software to manage accounting and financial reporting, automating marketing and sales processes, and implementing tools to streamline customer service and support. Remember to update your process documentation as you go.
Delegate!
As your business grows, the pressure to deliver increases. But you, alone, cannot do it all. This is where identifying and bringing on the right team members is incredibly important. Knowing your own strengths and weaknesses and using your strategic plan, identify where the skill gaps exist in your organization. Take extra care to develop specific job descriptions for the roles you need to fill, and hire accordingly. This is your opportunity to strategically offload tasks that keep you from effectively running the business and working excessively long hours. Your time is critically valuable to the organization. When you’re overloaded, stressed, and burned out, you can’t effectively lead, be proactive, or perform your best.
Business Challenge #4: Customer Service Declines
As revenue and growth increase, customer service can sometimes take a backseat to other priorities. The focus on growth, a source of stress that always exists in the background, can lead businesses to prioritize expanding their customer base rather than maintaining high levels of customer service. This often results in resources being directed towards client attraction activities instead of ensuring the satisfaction of existing customers. As a result, caring well for clients, even if you’re delivering what you promised, may not receive the necessary attention and resources needed to maintain a high level of quality.
Additionally, with growth comes complexity. As the business expands, your operations may become more intricate and challenging to manage, leading to communication breakdowns and difficulties in providing personalized customer service. Managing a larger customer base or multiple clients simultaneously, a wider range of services, and more complex processes can put a strain on resources and create challenges in providing a quality customer experience. This complexity and pressure may also increase communication challenges among the team that results in confusion and inconsistencies in the service provided to customers.
SOLUTION
Align customer experience with your business mission.
Your business mission serves as the north star of your business and is a powerful tool for creating a positive and memorable customer experience. By defining and aligning your customer experience strategy with your business mission and values, incorporating customer-service oriented metrics into your business goals and objectives, and holding your team to a high standard, you set yourself apart, build customer loyalty, and drive long term growth.
Listen to and leverage client feedback.
Asking for and listening to client feedback can provide valuable insights into areas where your business can improve the customer experience. By understanding the journey a client takes from start to finish, the pain points they may experience, and intentionally designing a client experience that is deeply aligned with your business mission and values, you not only improve client satisfaction but differentiate your business in the marketplace.
Use technology to improve the client experience and lighten your resource burden.
Technology, automation, and software can dramatically streamline your onboarding and client service work. By leveraging automation for processes like onboarding, billing, and account management, you easily reduce the workload for your team and speed up processes that would have otherwise been manually done. Additionally, communication tools that use data analytics, CRM activity, and other algorithms can help you and your team personalize your interactions with clients, making them feel valued and important.
One word of caution here. For high-end client service, people still want a personalized touch. They want to know they’re interacting with humans and want to feel valued. Don’t overdo technology and automation at the expense of client relationships.
With a proactive strategy, a strong and well-defined customer experience, and a resource plan, you can avoid those big, happy achievements turning into ruts in the road.
How are you tackling these two challenges in your business?
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Are you on the road to entrepreneurial burnout? Take the assessment.
The Ultimate Systems Bundle: 4 Systems Every Business Needs
10 Questions to Reconnect With Your Mission and Align It To Your Business Strategy
The Purpose Scorecard: How clearly defined, articulated, and embedded purpose is in your business?
