You rarely hear about the errors, the detours, or the decisions that seemed so smart at the time and then turned out to be the exact opposite. Each organisation has its own set of these detours. Most organisations simply do not speak about theirs; however, we are going to.
After 10 years of developing iARATech from an operation with 2 members to a 30+ member team, we have earned enough scar tissue to provide meaningful information to someone who is in the initial stages of their entrepreneurial journey. If sharing our setbacks provides a sleepless night to a founder, then the value of this post will be worthwhile.
Here is what we learned from our experiences. Honest, raw and true.
We hired based upon skills prior to hiring based upon fit.
At the start of the organisation, when a position needed to be filled, the natural tendency was to seek the most qualified candidate available and move quickly. While this approach may work some times, it does not work consistently. A highly skilled employee with no shared values with the organisation can quietly damage the organisation more than having a vacancy. In terms of team morale, client satisfaction, and protecting the organisational culture, we have learned to slow down and hire based upon character first and capability second. The right candidate, regardless of how much time it takes to find them, is always worth waiting for.
We attempted to be everything to everybody.
As a growing young organisation, it seems like the responsible action is to say “yes” to every potential client opportunity. A client requires a product or service slightly outside of your area of expertise? Say yes. Another client requests a service that you have not fully developed yet? Say yes. Initially, this level of flexibility felt like a sign of strength. However, over time, it quietly became a limitation, causing strained teams, inconsistent delivery, and a brand identity that was fuzzy around the edges. We have come to realise that focus is not a weakness; it is a source of strength.
We underestimated the importance of early process development.
Initially, the entire operation relied on trust and instinct. Trust and instinct worked well until the team expanded beyond two employees and instinct could not scale. As the number of employees increases, quality cannot be held solely by the leadership. At that point, organisations require systems. We wish we would have established documentation, standards, and systems earlier. The time spent establishing systems early on will pay dividends as the organisation grows.
We did not celebrate small victories enough.
Building a company is a marathon, and as such, the quiet victories along the way (a great client review, a team member breaking through to new levels of performance, a process finally working smoothly) are often overlooked in the quest for the next milestone. People need to see the progress being made, and the lack of acknowledgement for progress can lead to a sense of stagnation within the organisation. That is part of the reason why we created “You Are Awesome Saturday” at iARATech today.
We waited too long to ask for assistance.
Pride is expensive. Whether the issue was a business decision, a team challenge or a strategic pivot, there have been times when asking for assistance from mentors, peers, or the greater business community earlier would have resulted in months of avoidable struggles.
The Lesson?
No one builds anything truly remarkable alone. Our 10 years of mistakes have made us smarter and humbler, and we hope, ultimately, better at serving our clients each and every day.
Don’t let your growth be the result of the same costly mistakes we experienced.