The Business Founder’s Evolving Role

In the dawning days of an organization, it makes perfect sense that its founder may take it upon themself to carry most, if not all, of the venture’s responsibilities—everything from marketing to sales to client support and even to product manufacturing, depending on the business model.

However, as the seeds of an organization begin to bear fruit, an entrepreneur can step back from many of these specialist roles, delegating duties to others as they proceed to climb another mountain: acting as a visionary. If you find yourself in such a position, success doesn’t depend on you having the longest duty list on the team; rather, transitioning to being a creative thinker frees you up to better realize your venture’s truest potential.

Leading early efforts

In order to get a rough idea off the ground, a founder has to do more than conduct initial steps like providing capital (whether personal, loaned, or invested) or filing paperwork for their business structure. Additionally, they will need to practice the diligent traits of a taskmaster leader.

There are several reasons why this is the case. First, fundamental efforts such as marketing, accounting, and sales aren’t optional, and leaders who shirk these can fail to accomplish much at all. Second, you may have had to satisfy multiple key roles before hiring a larger team. In the early days of Amazon, for example, every employee, no matter their position, took turns in fulfillment centers to satisfy orders since the staff size didn’t yet meet their consumers’ explosive demand. Every dollar counts for a brand-new business, and that may mean wearing several hats while only staffing cautiously to meet basic needs.

Scaling your business

Once you notice certain signs of a golden opportunity, such as generous cash flow, high consumer demand, and simply having a “eureka” idea that could help you gain a stronger foothold in your industry, you can initiate a shift. A good example is Netflix’s transition from competing in the physical video rental space to offering streaming media directly in consumers’ homes. Whatever sparks your belief that your company is ready for a pioneering phase, you will need to make certain immediate changes in order to set sail. That’s because, in a sense, your company is being founded again, and it will be time to leave your office and plant flags in untrodden territory.

Transitioning to such a visionary role will necessitate taking several key steps. Each of these is essential for shaping your ambitions and actualizing them while preventing burnout.

Assessing capital
The first question to answer is: How much fiscal freedom do you have to invest in potential efforts? Run income statements and balance sheets—or request them from the accounting personnel you hopefully have in place by now—to get a snapshot of your organization’s performance. This will reveal how much cash you have to play with and how well your company could take on any new debt. For more guidance on the latter, calculate your debt-to-income ratio and take steps to optimize it for better creditworthiness. Discuss these figures with your team to determine a budget for your upcoming moves.

Reorganizing staff
Next, you’ll need to delegate many of your current responsibilities to other individuals, either by expanding your staff or simply adjusting current employees’ workdays to handle key tasks. For example, enlisting a new VP of sales to review these team members’ performance figures, train them, and overlook staffing can free up time for your visionary concerns. You could also promote existing staff to supervisory roles to fulfill ongoing leadership needs, a move that could help you stay within your financial constraints.

Brainstorming ideas
Now comes the creative work of figuring out how to scale your business successfully. Where are your competitors’ offerings lacking? What does your shared target audience seem to respond to most? Perhaps the most prudent place to start is by gauging direct consumer feedback. Take, for instance, when health and beauty brand Touchland browsed social media to ascertain a customer demand: they were hungry for a unique line of carrying cases for their hand sanitizers—a change that the company promptly made happen to much consumer delight.

Seeking guidance
Remember that, while good entrepreneurs are dreamers, they need support to stay grounded. For this reason, maintaining accountability and an objective audience for your plans is crucial. After all, trusted partners can help you remain realistic and provide constructive feedback where necessary.

You might choose to poll your team’s opinions on forthcoming changes (especially those that affect the day-to-day experience in your workplace) while listening to any significant or commonly raised concerns as you tweak your strategies. Declining to do so could be disastrous. Case in point: David Novak, the creator of the failed (and oft-forgotten) Crystal Pepsi flavor, shrugged off criticism of his product idea from his own colleagues. The result? It fell short of projections to capture a mere 2 percent of the US soda market and was soon discontinued.

Proceeding with caution

Once you shape new ideas in detail, roll them out carefully. With each new endeavor you execute, you’ll walk a tightrope between its establishment and strong profits. Because even a good tactic can realistically fail, you’ll need to continue tracking KPIs and financial reports, relying on such data periodically to measure your success.

As you test new ideas, remember to leverage your brand recognition in your marketing, which will help generate consumer excitement over your expansion into untapped markets or novel products. But listen as much as you speak; keep one finger on the pulse at all times, tracking feedback such as comments on your company’s socials.

Likewise, keep tabs on dramatic fiscal changes since the costs of your new strategy may begin to outweigh its benefits, such as a certain project being far too costly to operate or failing to reap buyer activity. If you notice such signs, be willing to rework or even drop it and move on to another. Failure is possible, but it doesn’t need to be the end of your journey. Deftly pivoting to new approaches is ultimately crucial to being a successful visionary leader.

Putting your dreams into action

As you grind toward your aspirational efforts, you’ll need to be responsible for catalyzing change, creating new growth opportunities, and strategizing problem-solving should you hit snags in your journey. So rather than simply envisioning changes and doling out the work, step up your outreach efforts and maintain consistent communication with your various stakeholders and team members along the way.

Continue to lead by example, not just by order, and always remember that you, too, are under development. You might consider investing in workshops or taking on a professional mentor to help you develop your entrepreneurial skills, gain creative insights, and mature into your new role as a visionary forerunner. Pursue these new leadership duties diligently, and you could guide your enterprise to new heights.

TAKE ACTION:
Consider how your organization could evolve and which practical steps you can take to transition from your current position into a more visionary one.