What they do not tell the founders of the company Bashny.Net

Wil Schroter

Last week I met over a glass of beer and pizza with a dozen founders of the various companies to talk and discuss with them some narrow professional theme. I love to do it, because when a room is going to a group of founders of businesses between them instantly appear relationship characteristic of brotherhood. These people let their guard. They talk about things that no one else can neither understand nor appreciate.

After some time, and after a few cocktails with vodka becomes extremely frank conversation.

Some of those present at the meeting, the founders have already set up and to sell their companies, while others have just started to build their own business. Despite the fact that these people represented various stages of business development, among them the spirit of mutual understanding prevailed, no matter what field they work and their achievements.





Being the founder of the business - it means to be lonely

This is not so often say, but, believe me, to be the founder of the business enterprise - it means to be a lonely man. You are, by definition, stand taller than most people. When employees leave your company for dinner, they usually discuss one topic: they complain about its leadership. But you have the same direction. You can not go to dinner and complain to anyone to their problems.

If you are lucky, then you have a wife, who really understands what you're doing, and you can trust. But luck is not everything. Often the founders of the business there is no one with whom they could talk to at work and to whom they could trust at home. And given the incredible emotional costs, which are always accompanied by work on a new enterprise founders it is extremely difficult to cope with their feelings alone.

Being the founder of the business - so constantly tormented by doubts

There are two types of the founders of businesses: those who do not know if I can have anything, and those who are cunning, answering this question. None of us have a glass ball. None of us knows whether he will reach success in that case, which involved. It is an integral part of the process of starting a new enterprise. However, the world needs to see how you radiate 100 percent confidence in his approach.

When a person is forced to build a building on the ground, riddled with doubts, it causes a lot of very different emotions. Often, he sees only hints at the positive results - when, for example, he manages to convince new customers to start cooperation or new product release. Most of the time he observes a continuous string of unsolved problems and challenges which are rarely applied instructions to remove. This is extremely tiring.

Being the founder of the business - it means to be bankrupt

On top of the emotional roller coaster is an avalanche of debt and financial stress. The founders of the business are paid in the last instance, to the time when the company reaches a sufficient level to pay its founder, it is no longer possible to compensate the costs.

You often hear about the founders, who earn millions of dollars - this result is worth it to him to make all means available. But what about the period of time between the start of the business and obtain a profit? What does it mean to invest all their money in the company and did not know whether they will ever return? What does it mean not to be able to count on income and only think of the giant looming over you spending? It is cruel.

People do not like to talk too much about these problems, but, nevertheless, they exist. And they are deprived of the last forces. Few, after all, are starting to get big profits, and, as a rule, this happens only when they have lost everything they had. People with a fixed income this may seem crazy, and in many respects they are right.

Founders of business failures haunt

A recurrent theme in the founding stories of business enterprises was the theme of constant failures. I think we tend to underestimate the force of the impact of failures on the founding of new companies, because "it happens all the time." But car accidents happen all the time, too - just damage them clearly visible, so their impact is difficult to downplay.

In this case, the main problem is not the failure itself and its predecessor shroud of anxiety. It is a constant reminder that you may have made a mistake somewhere, lost money, wasted time or ruin his reputation. Failure to follow you all the time, and it does not stop, even if you managed to make a breakthrough.

The founder can not throw your business

When things go well, be nice to the founder. However, if the ship starts to sink, with it he should go to the bottom and its captain. The same applies to the founders of businesses.

You hardly ever hear about new businesses whose founders leave them to find a new job, and the employees are watching how they got it. Perhaps in the case of new companies financed by venture capital, which still have funds, it is possible, but there are quite a few companies.

Often, if a company starts to crash, its founder, is to protect the walls of the fort, while the rest of his leave. Employees can find another job, perhaps even more lucrative. However, the lease agreement was the name of the founder of the company, and this agreement will be valid for three years in a zero profit. You are constantly pushing the idea that you tied the relations that is extremely difficult to stop.

To conduct such meetings must be

Being among the same founders of the business, you always easier to discuss popular topics such as customer acquisition or transaction for the development of the enterprise. It is much more difficult to talk about their personal experiences, especially when they are associated with failures.

However, these experiences are in many ways the cornerstone of management of the new company. We have to fight not with technical problems, and emotional. And sometimes the realization that you're not the only person who was haunted by anxiety and failure helps.

Translation inosmi
Original Forbes

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