12 advices for launching and running a successful Business in 2022
I founded AFFINITY, a consulting company specialized in information technologies, in 2012, and I have been leading the company since then. On the verge of reaching a 10-year cycle of uninterrupted growth, I want to take this unique opportunity to share some of the greatest lessons I have learned and that I consider useful for all those who want to launch their business, their startup, their projects in 2022!
It’s time to take that plan out of the drawer and launch it to the world and here are 12 of the best lessons I have to pass on!
- Big company versus small company? I have noticed in all these years that managing a large or small company is, strictly speaking, very similar, it’s just a matter of scale and dimension of the structure. Management principles, team and people leadership principles are very similar. I believe that there must be a very personal introspection, to understand in advance which company profile, I want to develop.
- Have a clear mission and vision. When you aspire to be rich, owning a successful business seems like the most direct way to get there. However, this will also be the riskiest if you look at statistics of successful business projects in Portugal and in the world. Creating, developing, and growing a company is a very complex exercise, so if that is the main reason to do it, you may have serious disappointments along the way. Besides, who wants to work with someone whose #1 goal is to make money? I strongly believe that there must be something more, something bigger and deeper than that, a more holistic mission, to effectively maximize the chances of success of the project.
- Hire the right talent: In my opinion, one of the main success factors is the ability to attract top talent, people with strong potential, aligned with the vision of the company and with the values we believe in and want to convey. To reach these people, you will make some (many) mistakes, in a continuous trial-error loop. Some difficult decisions will have to be made, we must be prepared to fire some professionals and be prepared for those who will leave on their own. Don’t forget that the best will always want to work with the best.
- Constant monitoring of liquidity. An overwhelming majority of companies do not live beyond 7/8 years (it’s true!) due to poor management of the company’s liquidity (cash). Ensuring that cash grows monthly/annually, is critical to creating a long-lasting and successful business.
- Focus on your core business: The years go by and the desire to do different things is very strong. The world is increasingly moving towards specialization at the level of what countries, companies or people know how to do very well. My advice here is to focus on being the best in your main area of activity and to invest in a lot of continuous innovation, creating value around your main offer.
- Financial Discipline: Financial control must be a daily management habit whether the company is small or large, has low or huge margins. It is a mistake not to keep cost control tight in good years, as you can be sure that sooner or later, less good years will follow. A company, like a human being, goes through several cycles, and we must be moderate in the extraordinary years, and be optimistic in the less good years. The most important thing is collective long-term progress (>> 10/20 years).
- Management team: A high-performance team. Much of what the company will be in the future is directly indexed to the quality of its management team (Board or Management Committee), who operates the company on a day-to-day basis, who makes dozens and dozens of daily decisions. This team is a key element in the company’s organic structure, so never rest until you have athletes to win gold medals.
- Meritocratic versus autocratic company: Build a meritocratic company where talent is valued, and people’s growth happens simultaneously with the company’s growth. In my point of view, looking for senior roles or key roles in the company outside of it is a bad management principle, and it could even be a sign that something went wrong in people management in the past.
- Think global and long term. If you want to create a solid business, and in the long term, you must think global from day 1. Design your entire strategy and hire the right people to compete globally. It will be sheltered from local cyclical crises, will have a much greater capacity for scale, and will develop very rewarding multicultural personal and professional relationships. It goes without saying that, in this context, English should be mandatory in the hiring processes.
- Design of the company. A company is like an organic body. It is constantly changing in subtle ways. Some parts work very well, others need some maintenance, and others just stop working. As a company manager, it is your responsibility to ensure that you have the best company design (people, processes, and technology) aligned with your mission, as well as your present and future strategy.
- Resilience. The leader’s resilience levels are reflected in his first team, which in turn spreads to the entire management structure. In today’s increasingly digital economy, with remote work becoming the norm, with high volatility in customers and skilled resources, designing and developing a resilient organization determines the fine line between success and failure.
- Have fun! As a business grows and takes its place of success, we are also facing the normal difficulties and tensions that arise, we have a natural tendency to become “more serious”, whatever that may be. Don’t fall for that mistake. The beauty of growing a project, small or large, is in the journey, so it is important to stop regularly and look back with personal satisfaction at the goals achieved. And even better, share those moments with your people.
Anticipating the next decade of AFFINITY, under my command or not, I can already say that it will be focused on sourcing of international talent, on increasing the density of internal talent, on improving the meritocratic life of our employees, on development of new leaderships and share knowledge and wealth with society and the global market.
If you want to deepen these and other teachings even further, I strongly advise you to read my book for new (or not so new) entrepreneurs “CEO – Manual de Sobrevivência”, released by Cultura Editora in 2020.
I wish you all a year 2022, filled with health, growth and wisdom.
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