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Company X in need of help!

February 19, 2010
posted by April | View Comments

Picture 20So, I just got off the phone with one of my closest friends in the world, who a little over a year ago, found a small, growing company (Company X) to work for part-time.

In the past year, Company X has grown – fast – and she joined them full time and was recently offered a promotion.  She is super excited that she could be on a career path with Company X, but is struggling a little bit with the way the owners run things. And for good reason.

The challenge from my eyes is this: they had an idea that started getting some attention a little more than a year ago, and has since absolutely “blown up” in marketplace recognition & consumer demand.

In the process of growing and being a constantly changing & adapting company, the creators forgot they needed to learn how to lead a team.  They had built their business off of young, temporary, hourly help to keep them going, and had never really invested in the people who supported them.  Now with all of those same people becoming full time, working overtime, and exhausted, they have failed to stop and focus on the internal makings of their success.

Company X certainly isn’t the first to see substantial growth in such a short time… Tom’s Shoes, Spanx, Livestrong Bracelets to name just a few that came to mind. So, how did they do it – and thrive?

The leaders of those companies & products not only had the great idea, but they weathered the growth without losing momentum. I am fearful that my friend’s company isn’t keeping up, and worse off, doesn’t even really know the extent to which something is wrong.

I tried giving her advice of how she could help alert them, or how she can herself take this time to really become a leader within the company, but I feel like that’s not going to cut it. They are in a critical time right now where they can start reaching out to their team and learning how to be better leaders, or they will find themselves teamless.

Does anyone out there have advice of how I can help my friend, help her company?

-Ape

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This entry was posted on Friday, February 19th, 2010 at 10:26 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Aaron

    Unfortunately the vast majority of people who start a business are not prepared for success and growth. Businesspeople are conservative by nature and see no need to change “a winning formula”. Owners and management usually fail to recognize that their success is mostly due to the efforts of their team.
    The best way to deal with this sort of situation is to discuss it with other employees and come up with something in writing to let the bosses know what's going on. A one-on-one chat doesn't have the impact of a statement signed by all employees, and it will take a real impact to jar your friend's bosses out of their mindset.

  • Aaron

    Unfortunately the vast majority of people who start a business are not prepared for success and growth. Businesspeople are conservative by nature and see no need to change “a winning formula”. Owners and management usually fail to recognize that their success is mostly due to the efforts of their team.
    The best way to deal with this sort of situation is to discuss it with other employees and come up with something in writing to let the bosses know what's going on. A one-on-one chat doesn't have the impact of a statement signed by all employees, and it will take a real impact to jar your friend's bosses out of their mindset.

  • http://twitter.com/2gtech 2G TechWorks, Inc.

    Any small business that’s going to make it is going to have to tackle this issue. An entrepreneur starts out with some ideas, finds some people who can help them grow, and the next thing she knows, she’s a manager of people and her success or failure is no longer based exclusively on her ideas and effort, it’s also based on her ability to create loyalty, encourage teamwork, inspire creativity, and build an environment with a staff of people who feel valued and essential to the business success.
    That’s hard to do, but that’s not even the challenge your friend faces, because your friend isn’t the “encourager”, your friend is the “encouragee”. What I know is, as a small business owner, I had to learn this lesson the hard way. It took a couple of employees coming into my office and saying “Andrew, I love you but I can’t work here anymore” for me to begin to see where I was letting my team down.
    I encourage your friend to sit down and have a serious talk with her boss. Don’t send an e-mail. Don’t write a letter. Don’t send a text. And don’t do it as a “group thing”. Do it one-one-one, face-to-face; like two friends. Ask for a few minutes with the boss or owner and make your case. And make it a fact-based case. Stress that you want to work here, you want to be a part of this growth; but you worry that they’re breeding a staff who won’t be around for long. It’s not a threat. It’s not an “I know better than you”. It’s an honest conversation like you’d have with your friend or partner. Your motivation is to help the business be the best it can be, not to get him to do something to make you happy or to get him to see what he’s doing wrong.
    One final note. I’d encourage your friend to talk to her boss using “we” words, “our team”, “our company”, “our goals” – it may seem like a ridiculous thing to say, but it’s absolutely valid. Just like when you’re in a relationship, your partner wants to hear – when you voice your concerns – that you think of the two of you as a “we”.
    The secret, I think, for most small business success is to find a way to see the path to staff success before it’s too late. Good luck!

  • http://twitter.com/2gtech 2G TechWorks, Inc.

    Any small business that’s going to make it is going to have to tackle this issue. An entrepreneur starts out with some ideas, finds some people who can help them grow, and the next thing she knows, she’s a manager of people and her success or failure is no longer based exclusively on her ideas and effort, it’s also based on her ability to create loyalty, encourage teamwork, inspire creativity, and build an environment with a staff of people who feel valued and essential to the business success.
    That’s hard to do, but that’s not even the challenge your friend faces, because your friend isn’t the “encourager”, your friend is the “encouragee”. What I know is, as a small business owner, I had to learn this lesson the hard way. It took a couple of employees coming into my office and saying “Andrew, I love you but I can’t work here anymore” for me to begin to see where I was letting my team down.
    I encourage your friend to sit down and have a serious talk with her boss. Don’t send an e-mail. Don’t write a letter. Don’t send a text. And don’t do it as a “group thing”. Do it one-one-one, face-to-face; like two friends. Ask for a few minutes with the boss or owner and make your case. And make it a fact-based case. Stress that you want to work here, you want to be a part of this growth; but you worry that they’re breeding a staff who won’t be around for long. It’s not a threat. It’s not an “I know better than you”. It’s an honest conversation like you’d have with your friend or partner. Your motivation is to help the business be the best it can be, not to get him to do something to make you happy or to get him to see what he’s doing wrong.
    One final note. I’d encourage your friend to talk to her boss using “we” words, “our team”, “our company”, “our goals” – it may seem like a ridiculous thing to say, but it’s absolutely valid. Just like when you’re in a relationship, your partner wants to hear – when you voice your concerns – that you think of the two of you as a “we”.
    The secret, I think, for most small business success is to find a way to see the path to staff success before it’s too late. Good luck!

  • bongaroo

    Thank you for that methodical response, this is great advice to stumble upon.

  • bongaroo

    Thank you for that methodical response, this is great advice to stumble upon.

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