Finally, this one is crucial to be aware of. No matter what your role is in the company (a founder or a senior), you will have to adapt to the business over time as much as you can.
What I do now, is very different to what I did 3 years ago when we launched. My role is very different, and this isn’t new – it’s changed probably every 6 months or so.
You need to identify your strengths and weaknesses as the business around you grows. You’ll really understand what you also like and don’t like – focus more on what you like. What you don’t like, either delegate or split these roles with another member of the leadership team if you have one.
My role has gone from doing content strategies for clients and running the business simultaneously every day, to now more of an Operations role where I oversee all the core functions of the business day-to-day and make sure that NOVOS is a great place to work and is delivering to a high standard. I’ve also understood my core strengths and weaknesses and am able to work on these in sprints.
My Co-founder Sam and I recently did this where we outlined what our roles are now and need to be to take the business to the next level. We identified each other’s strengths and weaknesses and built the roles out from there, which has worked really well for us since.
Be open to change and also be aware – just because you’re a founder, doesn’t mean you can be a CEO or a COO. If you can have the awareness to know what you can and can’t do right now and keep adapting your role from there, you’ll constantly improve yourself alongside the growth of the business.
To conclude, lessons are learned every day. From people problems to client problems to money problems – there is always something, and that’s the beauty of business, a day is never the same, and there are a lot of opportunities to grow.
If you’re open to making mistakes and see that as opportunities, the business will thrive, and so will you.
I’d like to give a massive thank you to everyone at NOVOS, from my co-founder Sam to Dan and Olivia, our leadership team and the rest of the agency for helping us build a fantastic company. Everyone’s played a huge part in working through the cracks and growing pains, and it’s what makes us such a fantastic team.