Every startup founder knows from the outset that there are going to be

obstacles. But sometimes, they can still surprise you — whether that’s
because you just didn’t anticipate them, you’re unsure of the best way to
respond, or you don’t yet have the resources you need to address them
properly.
Here are some of the main issues to watch out for, so you can plan
ahead and know what to do ifwhen they crop up.

Challenge #1: Money

Let’s get right into it: yes, you need money. Unless you’re remarkably
lucky and the cash flows in straight away, either from sales or investors,
money is going to be an issue sooner rather than later.
And when cash flow issues hit a startup, they can hit hard, delaying
important progress like rolling out products, hiring key staff, or fitting new
offices.
You’ll need capital to fund software or product development, office
space, marketing, and more. Most of your success will flow from that
initial investment.
So even though it might seem counterintuitive when you’re trying to
minimize financial risk at the beginning, the last thing a startup needs is
to trim back costs (and shed staff) in its early days, just when it needs to
be focusing its energies elsewhere.
Entrepreneur David Roth doesn’t have much patience for people who
founded a startup and then ran out of cash: “As leaders, it’s our job to
manage the time and money needed to get to the next level without
running out of either one.”

Challenge #2: Neglecting marketing and sales

Are you putting enough resources into marketing and sales?

Some startups think they can ignore those two functions completely and
hope that word of mouth will be enough. Or if they’re a SaaS company,
they might believe that sales will grow organically online, and that IRL
sales and marketing teams aren’t needed.
But it’s a false economy to put your faith in customers discovering you
unless you make a concerted effort to grow them with a proper
structured plan to promote your startup. An easy to use website builder
like Bookmark is a great resource that can help you get your online
presence started quickly.
Once you have your site up and running, investing effort into SEO can
help make sure your website is accessible to search engines and get
your content ranking for relevant keywords, driving visitors to your
website. Using a tool like WooRank can help you check your SEO health
and identify opportunities to improve your online visibility.
And when you’re building your sales and marketing functions from the
ground up, take the opportunity to make them as aligned and integrated
as possible right from the get-go.

Challenge #3: Lack of planning

It’s amazing how many startups falter because they “forgot” to plan. Or
maybe they really did plan, but they just didn’t cover all the bases.
Key areas like sales, development, staffing, skills shortage, and funding
aren’t afterthoughts. They should all be a part of your business plan right
from the beginning.
Not only that, but you need to plan for the things you can’t plan for, too.
That is, even if you can’t prepare for every eventuality, you need to know
what you’re going to do when (not if) events take an unexpected turn.
If your business plan is all optimism and fails to allow for surprises, then
you’re heading for big trouble. As the saying goes, “if you fail to prepare,
prepare to fail.” So don’t leave the details to later.

Challenge #4: Finding the right people

Certain skills are crucial not only for your business to survive, but also
for it to grow. Knowing the exact skills you need — and how to get those
essential people on board — might be the determining factor in how well
your startup thrives.
Delays in finding the right personnel are costly. For a small team, the
recruitment process eats up valuable time that could be spent on other
areas of the business, but on the other hand, not having the right people
can create severe bottlenecks and stall the rollout of new products and
services. These are hold ups that no startup can afford, especially in the
early days.
And, as your company grows, you might find yourself facing another
tricky personnel problem: realizing that you’ve hired the wrong people.
(Or the right people in the wrong roles.) These kind of uncomfortable
truths can be revealed when a startup expands and the cracks suddenly
appear magnified.
That’s why it’s so important to make it a priority to lay out your hiring
strategy right at the start. Then, when you’re clear about what you’re
looking for, strategize key hires and think carefully about each role fits in
with the goals you want to achieve.

Challenge #5: Time management

In startups as in life, there’s never enough time. There are a million and
one decisions to be made and only 24 hours in a day
(and allegedly some of those should be spent sleeping).
So start by eliminating or minimizing distractions — anything that gets in
the way of running your business.
Focus your time and energy on the most impactful things. Ask yourself:
what is important and what can be postponed until tomorrow? What is
stopping your company growing? Those are the answers you should
deal with today.
And when you’re trying to set priorities, borrow a tip from former Olympic
athlete Ben Hunts-Davis and ask yourself: will this make the boat go
faster?
That is to say, will this decision or action have significant, measurable,
positive results that will help you hit your targets? Or is it just a “nice to
have” that you can add later?
Cut the noise and focus on things that move the needle (or the boat).

Challenge #6: Your founders

It’s hard to believe, but a startup’s founders — the very same people
who passionately nurtured their idea from nothing to a business — may
actually be contributing to its woes.
While the founders may have developed a great product and set the
wheels of the whole venture in motion, they can’t do everything.
And even if they could, they shouldn’t. It’s not just a time thing (see
Challenge #5); it’s a skill thing.
Good leaders know the extent — and limitations — of their own
expertise. They know that being a great developer, for example, doesn’t
necessarily equate to also being great at sales/finance/marketing/HR/all
the many other things a startup needs to do in order to scale
successfully.
So if you’re a founder, avoid making the big mistake of thinking you can
do it all alone. Don’t hoard all the work and major decisions for yourself;
spread the workload around. Hire other executives who can fill in the
gaps in your knowledge, and listen to what they have to say.
Challenge #7: Scaling up

So your products or services are experiencing phenomenal growth —

lucky you!
But now you’re finding yourself with a whole new set of headaches as
you try to scale to match this increased demand.
It’s not just a question of adding a few extra employees. As we learned
from Challenge #4, you need to be strategic and prioritize the roles that
will have the most impact — and they’re not always the ones you think.
Maybe you need to hire more HR staff (since you suddenly have a lot
more staff), or maybe you need to focus on building out functions like
administration, payroll, or support.
You may also need a larger office space to deal with your increased staff
numbers (and if you haven’t budgeted for that, you’re going to need to
come up with an alternative real fast if you want to avoid stacking your
employees like Lego). Or maybe you need to set up offices in other cities
or abroad, so you can better support your key customer base.
Such is the price of success. If you have a plan and the cash to fund all
this, great. If not, then prepare for a painful process.

Challenge #8: Your comfort zone

Growing a startup can feel like taking one step backwards for every two
steps forward. It takes grit.
At the beginning, you’re going to need to wear a lot of different hats
(metaphorically speaking, at least). And you’re going to have to push
yourself to go outside your comfort zone on a regular basis.
So what are you willing to take on? Are you prepared to put in the hard
yards to make your startup thrive? Can you make a convincing pitch to
potential investors when you need funding, for example?
And just as importantly: is there anything that’s non-negotiable for you?
Anything that you do not, under any circumstances, want to do?
Figuring out your comfort zone early means you can make provisions for
this if you need to, so you can find team members who are comfortable
doing the things that make you uncomfortable.

Challenge #9: Competitors

No matter how great your products or services are, it’s a crowded

marketplace.
And it’s growing all the time: you won’t be the new kid on the block for
long, and new rivals can quickly alter the playing field.
So you need to put yourself in a potential customer’s place and see how
you stack up. What makes your company different? What makes your
products special? What makes your brand unique? Why would someone
choose you over your competitors?
When it comes to your competitors, you need to hit the right balance
between “us” and “them.” Don’t define yourself solely in relation to your
competitors: you need to be confident about what you’re bringing to the
table, too.
But you also need to keep your eye on the competition and the (rapidly-
changing) landscape. Having the right strategy, being able to think on
your feet, and being able to adapt to the new reality will define your
success or failure.

Challenge #10: Poor management

One thing startups definitely can’t afford is ineffective management. A

management team that worked well in the initial stages may find itself
struggling as the startup expands, as they’re tested by anything from
poor sales to market conditions.
You need to have the right people to make the right decisions. (It’s no
coincidence that Challenge #4 + Challenge #6 = Challenge #10.)
So as you build out your leadership team, you need to do two things.
(Well, you need to do lots of things, but for the purpose of this particular
point, let’s focus on two.)
Firstly, you need to make sure that your team is working well together. In
order to be effective, you need to keep everyone on the same page. One
way of doing this is to build transparency into your management team’s
decision-making process, so everyone on the team knows how the
important decisions get made.
Secondly, you need to make sure that your team is working well,
period. Be upfront about what is and isn’t getting results, and if you spot
any underlying longer-term issues, address them as soon as you can,
before they become major problems.
It might lead to some uncomfortable conversations — maybe even some
uncomfortable decisions — but having strong management is vital to
guiding your startup in the right direction.

Siddhant jain