“透視企業家”是一個在線社區,美國創業界最有思想也最有影響力的大咖會在此回答有關創業和職場方面的問題。今天的問題是,“企業家應如何看待創業過程中的成功?”回答者是哈佛創新實驗室董事總經理喬迪·戈德斯坦。 如果你問創業家成功意味著什么,很可能得到的答案五花八門。有些人希望致富,有些人會說希望改變世界。創業早期的創業家可能急切尋找第一批用戶,或是找到合適的聯合創始人。 琳瑯滿目的答案背后,突出了所有創業者都應該時刻銘記的一點:成功是轉瞬即逝的。 當達到一個目標后,總會有新目標出現。即便創始人獲得重要成就,比如賣掉公司、搞定重要合作,或是實現了某個收入數字,他們很快會發現下一批挑戰已經不期而至。 當創業者明白成功的本質是轉瞬即逝而非可持續時,他們就會想辦法正確面對成功,確保每次成功都能促進業務健康成長。以下有幾點建議: 偶爾暫停享受成功 創業公司小有成就時,不妨花點時間與團隊成員共同慶祝。尤其是在創業剛開始的時候,即便成績不錯也會忍不住埋頭向前沖。舉個例子,如果負責銷售的同事過來告訴你,“我們剛拿下10個客戶,達到了本月的目標,”你的反應很可能是,“很棒,不過下個月得拿下20個客戶。” 向前看當然很重要,但偶爾停下來享受成功可以提振士氣,激勵員工實現下一個目標,絕不容忽視。組織團隊午間聚餐慶祝成功其實非常重要,組織下班后聚會也一樣。 分享成功的故事 不管你是不是剛剛獲得種子輪融資,還是這個月獲得了大量新增客戶,要敞開胸懷與其他創業者分享成功的經驗,還有過程中的種種挫折。 一般來說,你與其他企業家分享成功經驗時可以形成良好的互動,方便交流思想,互相學習成功經驗和失敗教訓。理想情況下,這種關系可以加快你學習創業知識的速度,讓你在創業路上走得更順。 成功后不能躺在功勞簿上 目標和動力會跟隨業務提高,要記住今后團隊繼續成功需要的資源也在同步增長。換句話說,即便你已經獲得100位客戶,并不意味著你用同樣的方法可以獲得1,000位客戶。 實現一個目標后,記得花點時間與團隊慶祝,還要注意迅速設定新目標并制定實現目標的計劃。舉例來說,要實現收入水平提升到新水平就得招聘更多銷售人員,或是改變銷售流程。 如果一路高唱凱歌沒有挫折,要小心 創業時拼命打造最棒的產品和服務,盡可能高效地售賣是最重要的。如果你的公司一直都能達到甚至超越目標,每天都在慶祝成功,那么就該問問自己是不是應該把目標定高一點了。 多分析競爭對手在市場上的表現,可以更好地判斷你制定的成功標準是否夠高。如果對你來說,成功意味著每月搞定10位新客戶,但你的競爭對手每月至少能拿下50位新客戶,就得想想是不是該調整成功的標準。(財富中文網) 譯者:夏林 |
The Entrepreneur Insiders network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in America’s startup scene contribute answers to timely questions about entrepreneurship and careers. Today’s answer to the question “What must every entrepreneur know about startup success?” is written by Jodi Goldstein, managing director of Harvard Innovation Labs. When you ask entrepreneurs what startup success means to them, you’ll rarely get the same exact response twice. Some will focus on getting rich, while others will talk about making a difference in the world. Early-stage entrepreneurs might mention securing their first customers, or finding the right co-founder. The interesting thing about these different answers is that they underscore something about success that all entrepreneurs should keep in mind: Success is fleeting. Whenever one goal is reached, there’s always a new milestone to hit. Even when founders achieve significant accomplishments such as selling a company, securing a big partnership, or growing to a certain revenue number, they will quickly find themselves tackling the next set of challenges. Once entrepreneurs understand that the nature of success is fleeting rather than a long-lasting state, they can take steps to make sure their relationship with success is one that helps them grow a healthy business. Here are a few tips: Pause to recognize successes When your startup experiences successes, take the time to acknowledge and celebrate them with your team. Particularly in the beginning stages of a startup, it can be tempting to keep working full steam ahead even when you do achieve success. For instance, if your colleague who leads sales efforts comes to you and says, “We just hit our goal of securing 10 new customers this month,” a tempting response can be, “Great, but we need to get 20 wins next month.” While looking ahead is certainly important, pausing to fully acknowledge accomplishments is critical for keeping morale high amongst your employees, and motivating them to achieve their next goal. Not enough can be said for taking your team out to lunch to celebrate an achievement, or organizing an after-work gathering. Share your success stories Whether you’ve just raised a seed round or had a great month of winning new customers, be open to sharing stories with other entrepreneurs about how you did it, as well as some of the setbacks you experienced along the way. Often, when you share your moments of success with entrepreneurs, you’ll form beneficial relationships where you exchange ideas, and learn from each other’s successes and failures. Ideally, these relationships will help to speed up your entrepreneurial learning curve and will allow you to experience more success as a startup. When you do succeed, don’t rest on your laurels As your goals and aspirations grow with your business, keep in mind that the resources your team needs to achieve success will evolve. In other words, just because you won your 100th customer doesn't mean that you'll secure your 1000th customer using the same methods. Once you hit one goal and take the time to acknowledge it with your team, make sure to both quickly set a new goal and form a plan of attack for achieving the goal. For instance, getting to a new revenue level might require you to hire additional salespeople or change your sales process. Be wary of constantly experiencing success When starting a business, it's important to push yourself to build the best product or service, and sell it as effectively as possible. If your venture is always meeting or exceeding expectations, and celebrating successes every day of the week, ask yourself if you should be setting loftier goals. Analyzing how your competitors are faring in the market is a good way of judging whether your bar for success is high enough. If success for you means securing 10 new customers each month, but it’s clear that your competitors are achieving at least five times that, you might want to rethink your metrics that define success. |