The Perilous Journey of an Entrepreneur

In my work I have been privileged to have been given a peak behind the curtains of several SMEs in diverse industries, to observe, learn, support, and assist them with their business growth challenges.

Below is a list of insights I've acquired through working with many different business owners/leaders and my lived experience as an Entrepreneur.

These are the things they don't tell you when you begin the perilous journey as a business owner and entrepreneur.

1) Business Chaos: Scary as this might sound to the uninitiated (many business owners know this already) but most businesses, regardless of size or industry, are loosely functioning disasters. The intricacies of daily operations resemble a chaotic dance, where everyone runs around killing sporadic fires that keep breaking out in the engine room.

2) Small Business Daily Struggles: Operating a small business feels like participating in a perpetual knife fight. Each day, entrepreneurs wake up, dodge potential blows, and then retreat to bed, only to repeat the cycle. Survival becomes an art, and resilience is the key to staying afloat. It takes grit and tenacity to start, build, and operate a business, especially in a tough economy. In truth, you have to be a little insane to be a business owner and entrepreneur.

3) Barriers to Growth: Small businesses don’t intentionally remain small. They aspire to expand, but the journey is fraught with challenges. Financial constraints, market dynamics, ineffective/broken business systems and processes, inexperienced/disengaged staff, and unforeseen risks often keep them from achieving their desired scale. These are all barriers to growth that I refer to as ceilings of complexity in business. With each new level of growth comes greater complexity and you have to be able to scale the business through these barriers for it to grow to the next level.

4) Profit Margins: Most companies don’t rake in substantial profits. Instead, they scrape together whatever they can. And what little money they do make is almost always reinvested into the business, fueling growth and survival. For this reason, business owners are often just like employees in their own business, with most of their wealth locked up in the company and they are unable to cash in on all their hard work...I refer to this as the blood, sweat, and tears equity in the business.

5) Risk Tolerance: Business owners unknowingly shoulder a tremendous amount of risk. Their sleepless nights and tireless efforts are fueled by the desire to keep their ventures afloat. This journey is not for the fainthearted, the anxiety and stress can be crippling, and to make matters worse the business owner often has nobody to talk to about their fears or concerns.

6) Odd Hours and Stress: Owners work long, stressful, and often odd hours. The weight of responsibility rests squarely on their shoulders, and they bear it willingly. The business owner is often the hardest-working employee who earns the least (compared to the hours they put in and the risks they take).

7) Perils of Rapid Growth: Surprisingly, fast growth can be more perilous than declining revenue. It can stretch resources thin, strain organizational structures, and even lead to a company’s downfall. My first business failed because of rapid growth and us overtrading. We grew the business threefold in less than 3 years (1997-1999) and outgrew our resources, we liquidated in 2001 and more than 90 people lost their jobs because of this.

8) Culture Defined by Actions: Culture isn’t merely what you put in mission statements or values documents. It’s shaped by the behaviors you reward and the actions you reprimand. A thriving culture fosters success. Most business owners and entrepreneurs have little to no experience on how to foster the right culture and bake the right values into the DNA of the organization. Yet culture can be the difference between being ordinary and phenomenal as a business. Remember also that culture trumps strategy at any given moment.

9) Employee Purpose: Most employees couldn’t articulate why they do what they do or how their contributions impact the business. Aligning their purpose with the company’s mission and vision is crucial. Without purpose, your employees' engagement levels will be low and your churn high.

10) The Crucible of Success: Ironically, the most dangerous phase for a business is when the owner experiences financial success or significant notoriety. Few survive this newfound attention unscathed. Today's heroes in business can become tomorrow's failures quickly, you cannot rest on your laurels and you need to keep focused, diligent, and consistent in executing

11) Rare Gems: Occasionally, we encounter businesses that defy the norms. They thrive despite breaking most of the rules mentioned above. I know one such business (based in JHB) that has broken all the rules and theories of business management books, it has grown exponentially from < R 5000 000 annual turnover in 2017 to > R 600 000 000 (projected for this financial year). That's a CAGR of > 90%! At the same token, their headcount and overheads probably grew by less than 10% over the same period. This was done in an industry that is not a hot business topic without disruptive technology or breakthrough products. Businesses like these are exceedingly rare, and we should beware of trying to model our business to copy their successes.

12) True Measures of Success: Finally, contrary to popular belief, neither headcount nor revenue can be a reliable gauge of business success. The business is successful if it is profitable, delivers a unique experience/service/solution that delights its customers, frees up time for the owner(s) to work ON the business and have a life and family away from it, and where the employees thrive and love to work. This is a business that thrives and is loved by its owner(s), customer(s), and employees. These are the true measures of success.

If you want to grow your business and achieve the true measures of success mentioned above, I can help. I'm an Entrepreneur Adviser and Strategy Coach who works with business owners, entrepreneurs, and leaders to accelerate growth and take their business to the next level.

Visit my website at https://www.marcusvisser.com/