The sheer speed of technology innovations alongside all the rigors of a startup makes the need for change seem almost constant. How you handle transitions and the change management process will directly impact your business success, reputation, and ultimately, your sustainability. With statements, such ‘technology companies will rapidly decline in numbers’, looming large in the media, managing change to survive is critical as a techie startup with plans to be around for many years.
As a techie, you will perhaps find the innovations in isolation easy to cope with. However, incorporating them into your business, bringing employees along with you, and seeing the growth you want or need can be complicated. In addition, as a techie, to remain competitive, there may be an expectation for your business to adopt many of these innovations. You may feel you need to if you are to be best placed to offer services to others.
That leads us nicely into the challenges of change and how you can keep up with them:
Keeping Up With New Technology
You may struggle with this for your own business and the companies you work with. Of course, there will always be pressure, especially as a tech startup, to adopt and adapt to the very latest available. However, too much change can derail your primary business goals.
To overcome this, you need to have a clear and realistic picture of your short and long-term business requirements. Be realistic on the benefit that adopting new technology will bring and ensure that they will positively impact your business goals. This is also good practice for working with clients. They will want to understand the impact changes will have on their business to make evident the budget and resource changes affected.
Scaling
Do not be short-sighted. Wherever budgets allow, plan with business growth in mind. So many startups plan for the immediate impact technology will have on their business, restricting their ability to grow when success demands it. You may also need to move to larger premises, employ staff and improve productivity. Having a plan that prepares for this will help you identify the skills you need to acquire. One such course that new leaders and change managers can benefit from is an Agile Project Management Course. You and your team can learn essential practical and repeatable methods to place you ahead in a world where the change of pace continues to accelerate.
The solution is relatively simple. Plan for scalability, and ensure your chosen tech solutions can grow as you need without busting your budget. Knowing how to manage change and people before it becomes critical will help you negotiate the often-tricky change path. The cost must also be a factor if you need to keep a reign on your purse strings. You should consider expenses now and in the future.
Talent
Tech is your specialty, but surrounding yourself with the right people can be a significant challenge. The solution is to buy the talent, someone who can help you with legal bumps in the road, someone who understands how to manage small business growth, and this is undoubtedly a time where you could benefit from the services of change management training.
There’s no doubt that tech startups face some hurdles, especially faced with rapid growth and change. However, having a plan for change and the team to help you push change forward provides you with the best platform for business success.
