Shaking Up The Status Quo

Let's start with a boring definition of 'Status Quo': It is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regards to social or political issues. In the sociological sense, it generally applies to maintain or change existing social structure and values.

For an entrepreneur it broadly applies to a couple of areas: The first one is fairly simple 1. The Product OR Service that is being launched, which most likely is shaking up the status quo, in whichever industry/vertical it is launched in & the other one is more profound and requires a deeper analysis! 2. Day to day life of a start-up, where experience shows that shaking up the status quo OR 'finding' the next thing to try/do can at times be mentally exhausting!

One of the more frustrating things while building & growing a start-up is the entrepreneur's / team's position when they seem to have hit a wall and feel that they are stuck for extended periods of time, in terms of the product, sales, customers, etc. It is at these times that the start-up has to push forward aggressively and make sure that the THE STATUS QUO IS SHAKEN UP!

The first step in shaking up the status quo, is identifying that things in general are not moving forward at the pace that was expected. It is a critical realization and requires introspection and a self-evaluation framework by the start-up team. Once the team is aware that a shake up is required, it calls for a strong leader to admit to this and identify clear tactics/strategies needed to get things moving again - this can be in the form of identifying & approaching 'out of box' sales prospects, changing roles of non-performing team members, trying different branding OR marketing strategies, introducing & trying innovative features in the product/service, disrupting the existing business models with a couple of potential customers to start with, and so on.

An effective mentor can play a crucial role by being a sounding board for certain ideas that the start-up comes up with to shake things up. The mentor COULD also take the stand that the start-up is doing fine and it is imperative in the overall interest of the business for the status-quo to continue a little longer!

Overall, start-ups that plan a milestone linked road map for development, launch and operations with regular checks & balances to identify & attack 'status quo' situations will have a much higher chance of pulling through!