It’s that time of year when everyone wants to get a kick out of spooky stuff and creepy crawlies. Halloween is all in good fun, but skeletons in your company’s closet are no laughing matter. There’s no escape—your company must deal with these skeletons head-on if it wants to come out the other side alive.
These three skeletons are often shoved in the back of companies’ closet, collecting dust until judgment day.
1. Lack of Accountability.
When your company is growing, making moves, and scaling operations, holding team members accountable is challenging. Accountability means more than simply owning up to mistakes and remedying the situations. True, proactive accountability results in each team member understanding expectations and performing the right way, the first time.
The best way to foster proactive accountability is to create an employee manual. Employee manuals need clear processes and consequences for insubordination and unmet goals. Most successful companies have tiered disciplinary systems that result in termination after repeated offenses. As important as disciplinary procedures are, your company’s employee manual needs sections for rewards and positive feedback.
2. Negligence of Accounts Receivable.
Adding clients for your growing firm is exciting. However, as money comes through the front door, what mechanisms exist to make sure the company actually collects the money? Many successful executives accept that billing will not collect every penny sitting in accounts receivable. However, strategies exist to mitigate the fallout of unpaid bills.
Proactively sending letters to clients who haven’t paid can help the balance stay top-of-mind is effective. Send multiple notices before resorting to a collection agency. Consider offering payment plans to otherwise copacetic clients. At some point, your company will be able to be pickier when it comes to clients.
3. Tension among owners.
Unresolved disagreements among business owners can lead to some scary things—perhaps even the end of the company. The first step to mitigate damage from these disagreements is to have a robust operating agreement and other internal documents. These legally binding documents spell out obligations for each owner and, in the case of disagreements, prescribe the best course of action for resolving them. If your company has two owners with equal authority, consider having a board of directors to provide the tie-breaking votes.
Even if owners are not outwardly feuding, certain behaviors can be concerning. One red flag is seeing an owner take out money for personal expenses. Simply not being around much of the time could also be a warning sign. Is this a symptom of an owner’s side hustle?
That’s Not All!
Running or managing a successful business can’t be done without facing fears and confronting what needs to be confronted. Companies in emerging markets have a variety of challenges in front of them, and the three skeletons we discussed in this blog are certainly not the only ones. Contact us now to see how we can help clear your closet!
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