You are the boss, but you don’t have control. You don’t have enough control over your time, investors, the market, or your startup. Instead of controlling the business, the business is controlling you. By definition, the world of startups today is one of rapidly changing unknowns, where the inputs you receive will often conflict. It’s very frustrating.
All the constituents have their own agenda. You continually get frustrated with your team members, customers, vendors, and partners. They all have their own objectives and priorities, and don’t seem to listen, understand you, or follow through with their actions. You only expected that kind of a challenge from your competitors.
Persistent profit and cash flow shortages. Simply put, there’s frustratingly never enough profit or cash. Even when orders are clearly on the upswing, you need more funding to cover inventory and lagging accounts receivable. Then there are the expenses you never could have anticipated, driving down margins.
Constantly bumping your head on the growth ceiling. No matter what you do, you can’t seem to break through and get to the next level. Your growth has stopped, and you feel frustrated and unsure what to do next. You never have the time and resources for International expansion, acquisitions, venture capital investors, or going public.
Conventional strategies don’t seem to work for you. You have tried all the popular initiatives and quick-fix remedies, including social media, search engine optimization, and content marketing. None have worked for long, and as a result, your staff has become numb to new strategies. You are spinning your wheels, and need traction to move again.