Lessons Learned from 2018
Lets take a look at all the things we did wrong last year 😉
Accountability
You are accountable for the progress that you do or do not make. This is key with regard to timeliness and deadlines. Do what you say you will do, when you say you will do it. If you cannot be held accountable, you are the problem. Take the time, set SMART goals and work hard to achieve them regularly 😄 !
Acting like Kids/Students
Range was built while we were in university and @Abantu was registered when we were 3rd year students. Naturally we treated our company and work the way 3rd year university students who still go home to a meal and a bed in their parents house would…which was not a good idea. Excuses were often made for mistakes that could have been avoided. It was not on purpose, it was culture. However, as the year went by we took up more habits and practices that align with the kind of business owners that we would like to be and are inspired by. Thus the advice here is simple, treat everything with the respect that it deserves and pay close attention to how your carry yourself and conduct your business.
Poor Goal Setting
We have been guilty of both setting goals that are too large or too small. Additionally we have taken these goals and given them inappropriate deadlines allocating a lot of time to small goals and too little time for larger goals. Yes, set smart goals, however take advice from your team on how long a task will actually take and how realistic a goal is. Set SMART goals but do not do it alone.
Spending too much time on product development
We recently realized that our company has several Trello boards, but we spent all of our time on one, DEV(the board responsible for product development). This says volumes. Remember, your technology supports your business, so make sure you have a business first. Otherwise, you’ll end up like us who forgot that we had set business objectives altogether 😅.
Talking and not Listening
We spend a lot of time talking about our solution and all of its benefits, however, everyone knows you think your idea is the best thing since sliced bread. Everyone thinks that their idea is revolutionary.
What is the difference between the companies everyone knows and the ones no one remembers? They listen. They listen to their customers, advisors, to everyone. Listening does not mean doing. You don’t have to do everything you’re told however don’t ignore what you don’t want to hear.
Failing to embrace structure
Early stage startups have few employees, meaning less people to manage, meaning less stress and more often less need for structure. Wrong. Larger companies have structures not because they cannot manage multiple employees, but because a clear direction must be set and once it has been set it becomes a collective responsibility to achieve it. So embrace structure, its worked for so many so far and if it isn’t broken…..
Ineffective Communication
What happens when you have a meeting once every 3 weeks? One of three things: nothing, slow progress or a lot of progress however it is unrelated to any of the previously set goals. Eventually we stopped and started having daily scrum sessions and a weekly review. This assisted with ensuring everyone is on the same page, going in the right direction and is making progress.
