1. Purpose<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The first one is their purpose.<\/strong> When creating a new company or a new product, you should know what your purpose is and what exactly you are trying to achieve.<\/strong> Questions worth pondering on are: what problem <\/strong>are you looking to solve? Which opportunity <\/strong>are you keen to take advantage of? Where are you heading <\/strong>to? Why what you do matters<\/strong>? How are you going to achieve your end goal?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n To answer all those questions, it is worth starting with the end in mind.<\/strong> It\u2019s an idea borrowed from a book by Stephen Covey entitled The 7 habits of highly effective people<\/em>. It consists of sitting back and thinking hard and deep about the purpose<\/strong>, the goal you want to achieve, the end. What does it look like? Where do you want to get in three to five years\u2019 time? Do you want to sell your company? Are you keen to develop it even further?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you have a clear idea<\/strong> of your purpose, you need to plan back,<\/strong> always with that end in mind. Planning back may seem a bit unusual at the beginning, as we are all used to plan ahead, but once you get used to it, it gets natural.<\/strong> For example, if your end goal is to be acquired, you should think of companies you would like to acquire you. Who are they? Obviously, they may change over time, it may even be such companies do not exist as yet, but you can still think of them, of what they are like, what kind of culture they represent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Such an approach helps to make right decisions<\/strong> along the way. It\u2019s a kind of a moral compass \u2013 you need to always remember about the goal and think whether the decision you are making today is moving your company towards that goal. It\u2019s a stir of direction which you need to move ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Think about your purpose every three to six months<\/strong>. Review it with your board, with your investors, partners. Ask regular questions on how to get where you want to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you know your purpose, you need people that will help you <\/strong>achieve it. And just like with purpose, your needs for people will change: you will need different people and different skill sets at different times. <\/strong>It\u2019s therefore important to hire people you need now with a short view in mind, but never forgetting about medium and long terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When launching a startup, you have to think about scaling<\/strong>, about when you will need employees who work towards customers\u2019 satisfaction, when you will need to hire a product officer, what is the best time to building more people in your risk team. When your company grows, thinking ahead about your resources<\/strong> and how they should evolve<\/strong> is crucial. And you need to hire the right people<\/strong> along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am a great believer in processes. Because of my engineering background, I believe processes are like little blocks <\/strong>that allow you to go ahead. You need to think of processes you apply at all levels of business<\/strong> and map them to understand how they work. Get to know your financial processes, selling processes, complaints handling system, the way you report to the board \u2013 it\u2019s important to define all of them as they tell you how you should operate and allow you to have clarity about roles and responsibilities of different people within your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you scale quickly, running a business when the roles are not clearly defined, regularly updated,<\/strong> and often reflected upon <\/strong>may get The fourth aspect companies need to think about is their proposition. What value are they bringing to their client base,<\/strong> what problem are they solving? How are they helping their customers?<\/strong> It\u2019s important to take into consideration that everything changes, and customers\u2019 budgets get reallocated depending on different pressures, problems, and issues. But people always look for improvements.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A great example of such an improvement is BNPL \u2013 buy now, pay later system. It\u2019s a fascinating way of taking your financial responsibility under control, created with customers in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The last aspect that needs thinking through is technology<\/strong>. You need to be sure the technology you have is fit for purpose<\/strong> and will stay like that in the years to come. Questions to ask here are: can I scale <\/strong>my software? How do I ensure data protection?<\/strong> How do I cover all those aspects?<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you think about traditional companies<\/strong> and how they operate, you can quickly see that HR has always performed the function of following policies, CFOs were mainly looking at numbers and reports, while CEOs were giving directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But things changed <\/strong>and modern companies need to adapt<\/strong> to those changes: HR needs to support employees, CFOs have to become more involved in commercial side of business\u2019s decision-making, not just in reporting, CEOs need to direct their businesses in a more agile way.<\/p>\n\n\n CEOs need to listen to them to understand more and to make better decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n External partners are also fundamental when it comes to complimenting the existing skill set.<\/strong> The best companies are characterised by a strong base of people, but also by the fact they use external services, allowing their employees to be more productive, do more, and better use their time and expertise. Also, external partners have access to talent pools<\/strong> which you can use to compliment your existing pool. Those external people come in, bring new ideas<\/strong> and say whether they\u2019ve seen the solutions you are about to introduce somewhere else and how they worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I believe strong companies should be composed of both internal and external people<\/strong> \u2013 and I am sure such a trend will last for longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the psychology of collaboration, there is a term called Abilene paradox,<\/strong> which applies to every organisation, no matter its size. It speaks about a situation where employees get together and start operating in conflict with the strategy set by the board. Why? Because of communication<\/strong> \u2013 when the board sets the strategy, they think they communicate it well to the management team and the management team thinks they communicate it well to their teams. But with that whole chain of communication, the strategy gets diluted, misinterpreted, rethemed, and when it gets to the employee who is doing the actual work, it seems confusing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is when people get together<\/strong> and collectively decide to do things differently. And they get in conflict. If the board doesn\u2019t articulate their strategy clearly<\/strong> enough, if people aren\u2019t sure of their roles, responsibilities, about how they fit it, how they bring innovating, you will get uncertainly, assumption making, anger, depression, demotivation. And this is how quiet quitting starts<\/strong> \u2013 people stop caring if they don\u2019t know whether what they are doing is right or wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, the most important thing <\/strong>when it comes to strategies is to clearly communicate<\/strong> them. People need to know how they fit in within the company, while managers need to listen more and be clear in how they are conveying the strategy to their people. Too many misassumptions are simply bad for the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When choosing your external partners, remember that experience counts!<\/strong> If you want to scale your company, choose people who know how to do it, who has seen it being done. It\u2019s like in Formula 1 \u2013 the most successful teams are those that have vast experience, that used different cars on different circuits, that have seen many different tires behaving in different conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another important thing is the chemistry <\/strong>\u2013 you will be working closely together, so you need a great level of understanding,<\/strong> as there will be times when both of you can ask questions and may doubt. You need to be sure you can solve it all together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A good advisor has to understand their client<\/strong> and always think how to manage him. Advisory cannot be about questioning values, but about improving the business <\/strong>by collaboration and about asking the right questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That questioning bit is very important \u2013 a role of a good coach<\/strong> is to ask more than tell. Advisors need to understand their clients have their own ideas and inspirations, but also a lot of things going on at once and little time for reflection, so it\u2019s vital to ask questions and allow clients to get to their own conclusions. It\u2019s more about counselling than about directing.<\/a><\/strong> After all, it\u2019s much easier to invest in your own ideas than in those belonging to someone else. Advisory means helping clients get a clarity of what to do and creating something valuable, while being flexible and adjusting to changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, the most important thing companies look for is security<\/strong>. Migration to the cloud has already happened, and companies cannot afford not being on cloud. This is why security is critical<\/strong>, no matter what you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another important thing is the platform you are using.<\/strong> Companies want their platforms to be flexible, scalable, to provide a good foundation for what can be done in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Best examples are fintechs and fintech applications used by companies from other sectors, like car selling companies, who want to have a fintech solution on their app, allowing them to offer financial services to their clients. Everyone needs a flexible platform<\/strong> that will help them launch new products and deliver innovation. New banking platforms are today more modular, more fit for purpose. They allow scalability and take into account security. This is also the trend for the future.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
2. People<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Process<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
complicated and confusing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Proposition<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Technology<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The role of external partners<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Communication as the highest value within the company<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Choosing the right partner \/ consultant<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What companies are looking for when it comes to technology?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.future-processing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Dedicated-Team.png\")
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