Don't Make These Nine Operational Mistakes When You First Start Your Business

As a new leader, you feel an exciting sense of accomplishment when you consider your company "open for business." However, there are still many decisions to be made on the operations side that can make a new organization sink or swim. This is especially true if you have employees who rely on your leadership to build a successful business.

To share their insights, nine members of the Young Entrepreneur Council each discuss a common operational mistake that startup leaders make that can jeopardize the future of their business. If you're concerned about the success of your startup, read on to learn how these entrepreneurs recommend avoiding these common mistakes.

1. Do not build culture

Startup culture is very much about "moving fast and breaking things," and many founders tend to hire quickly and fix problems, without checking with staff and making sure they care about development professional of their employees. These founders usually end up spending a lot more time dealing with internal conflicts than running the business. Founders should decide on five to 10 key cultural values, ask employees for input, hire candidates who can uphold those values, and make sure to incorporate those values ​​into performance reviews. One thing I've found helpful is also scheduling one-on-one meetings with everyone in the company on the first day for every new employee. - Chenyu Ren, Markai, Inc.

2. Lack of clear SOPs for new hires

The lack of clear, consistent, and accessible standard operating procedures (SOPs) for new hires undermines the growth of a business. When training new employees, if seasoned people basically have to stop their normal daily work and sit side by side for an extended period of time, it hurts everyone. If there are clear SOPs in place that the new employee can access, not only will their trainer be better able to handle existing workloads, but the employee will also develop much more agency and confidence. If you try to scale without clear SOPs, employees will struggle to feel valued and the company will experience high turnover. As existing employees see people coming and going, their morale drops, the hiring process starts all over again, and the problems get worse. - Liam Leonard, DML Capital

3. Hire the wrong people

Hiring the wrong people is a big mistake a leader can make in the beginning. You need to recruit well and be very clear about the role you are going to hire for so that you can hire the right people for the job. Do not rush into hiring; instead, take your time and assess all of your candidates. When you hire someone, make sure you get them started. Define their role and communicate what you expect of them. Give them regular feedback to keep them on track. This will ensure that all your hiring efforts will not be wasted. - Stephanie Wells, Terrific Shapes