{"id":39849,"date":"2023-10-20T15:04:48","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/six-lessons-learnt-the-hard-way-from-successful-startup-leaders-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:04:48","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:04:48","slug":"six-lessons-learnt-the-hard-way-from-successful-startup-leaders-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/six-lessons-learnt-the-hard-way-from-successful-startup-leaders-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Six lessons learnt the hard way from successful startup leaders – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"ntegrity
ntegrity founder Richenda Vermeulen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

In the world of building startups, founders can find themselves out on a playground\u00a0that can be both scary and exhilarating.<\/p>\n

With tough market conditions, new and large competitors, unexpected obstacles, issues with cashflow and the challenge of keeping your team on side, it can help to know how other startups make it work.<\/p>\n

StartupSmart<\/em> spoke to Vinomofo co-founder Andre Eikmeier, ntegrity founder Richenda Vermeulen and Local Agent Finder chief executive Matt McCann to find out.<\/p>\n

Here are six\u00a0big lessons from their experiences.<\/p>\n

1. Money has little significance when it comes to motivation<\/h3>\n

While many sales teams have a commission structure, Eikmeier says Vinomofo wanted its team to be motivated by caring for customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t want them to be driven to sell wine to get a commission,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we dropped commissions \u2026 it has been a phenomenal learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eikmeier says focusing instead on building a culture where people feel they\u2019re trying \u201cto do something special\u201d has built trust and happiness across the team, while also helping retain the right people for the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe doubled conversion rates in sales,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

But like most things at Vinomofo, he notes, this was learnt this through trial and error and the business did initially try motivating their sales team with financial incentives.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to be open to tweaking and customising solutions,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

2. Learn on the go and keep a sharp eye on where you can improve<\/h3>\n

Before launching ntegrity, Vermeulen had virtually no entrepreneurial experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know how to read a P&L [profit and loss statement], I just knew how to do really good digital marketing,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

After quickly recognising her strengths and weaknesses, Vermeulen says she made an extra effort to fill in the gaps so she could not only grow her venture, but\u00a0defeat the many challenges she ran into.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to be comfortable with trying new things,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd know where I should best use my time and where I shouldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Listen to your customers and your data<\/h3>\n

McCann says for a startup to keep improving, it\u2019s critical to have a good handle on what your network of stakeholders want from you, including your suppliers and customers.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Ensure] what you\u2019re seeing in the data is giving you confidence to take that next step,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really just continuing to test new things and try new and different approaches\u2014that part is where you start to unearth the nuggets of gold.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou do that by testing in smaller environments and looking very hard at how you scale.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatch that scale to make sure it\u2019s as efficient [as possible] and to make sure you\u2019re getting a return on investment.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. Confront hidden inhibitions and fears<\/h3>\n

With a strong sense of self-understanding, Vermeulen says entrepreneurs can grow strong, take bigger risks and have the hard conversations needed to break unimaginable new ground with their ventures.<\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0How turning shame into pride helped this entrepreneur hit $1 million in turnover<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

But doing this requires taking a deeper look inside you as a person, and the fears and insecurities that may be holding you back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe person who I was five years ago is not the person I am now and that\u2019s a good thing,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the best things about being an entrepreneur is you\u2019re not stale.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through the course of growing ntegrity, Vermeulen says she has hit some frightening walls but developing \u201chealthy habits\u201d, working with a business coach and undertaking counselling has allowed her to thrive outside her comfort zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s having an ability to endure beyond what I thought was possible,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

5. Work with a business coach or mentor<\/h3>\n

Having navigated her way through those key business tasks of learning to hire the right people, building culture, doing taxes and going on parental leave, Vermeulen says she couldn\u2019t have survived without the support of her formal business coach who always made her reflect on her headspace when making critical decisions.<\/p>\n

Knowing the factors that are influencing particular thoughts and feelings, she says, can help identify which are invalid and causing unnecessary stress.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was important for my mental health,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are actually hugely emotional [challenges], to know whether you\u2019re going to be audited is stressful, [or] hiring the right people when you\u2019re on parental leave.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a mentor that could talk about both the practical but also the emotional was important. He knew me well enough to know when I was taking care of myself and when I wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some things I can\u2019t talk to my mentor and coach about that are very personal and that\u2019s when I go see a counsellor.”<\/p>\n

6. Share your learnings with others<\/h3>\n

Vermeulen says being upfront and honest about your journey with others can help you and everyone around you grow together.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonal stories are really powerful,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe environment we should create is through truth and actual practical examples, versus talking about things theoretically.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrust in something that\u2019s intangible and have faith that things are going to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em>\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0and iTunes<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ntegrity founder Richenda Vermeulen In the world of building startups, founders can find themselves out on a playground\u00a0that can be<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1,26],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39849"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}