How to Deal with Differences In Entrepreneurial Vision

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On occasion I like using similes to make a point or start conversation. So to start things off on dealing with differences in vision for business growth, let’s think about this:

“All Roads Lead To Rome” is like “There Are Many Ways To Reach A Business Goal.”

Are there many ways to grow a company? Of course there are. Just because you spend marketing dollars on Adwords versus traditional marketing doesn’t mean you will grow faster or slower. Hiring Employee A instead of Employee B could be a good decision or a horrible one.

People often look at these decisions only from the short term benefit or drawback, but how these decisions are made generally comes from underlying vision for the company as a whole.

In business, the debates behind closed doors on why moves are being made is generally how they fit into long term vision for the company. These arguments can lead to chasms between partners, employers and employees. Simple decisions create massive conflict.

Speed Of Growth

One of the most common sources of conflict is speed of growth. How aggressive should you be in marketing, gambles in expanding overhead vs cash-flow, or shifts in pricing structure.

Generally there can be logical argument for both sides of these debates. The more conservative want slow growth, the aggressive say “let the dice roll, we’ve got this.”

Unfortunately, in business there are opportunities presented which require quick, decisive action. While there may be no risk in refusing to take advantage of them, for entrepreneurs wanting to growth and expand quickly, not being able to get everyone on board to make a gamble creates doubt about the long term.

While you might compromise on one decision, when you see a competitor whoseized it and is reaping the benefits, disagreement on future decisions grows rapidly.

The evidence supports my decisions, why won’t they listen to me?

This will run through your mind over and over, until you find yourself rather irritated and speaking out with aggression.

Enter Conflict

Because the business is more than just a job to entrepreneurs, it’s amazing how quickly differences in opinion escalate into personal attacks. Rather than just debating until finding a good compromise, personal egos rise and it’s now my way or the highway.

Tensions rise, friendships are destroyed and business partnerships become fragile.

When clients, investors or employees begin to sense these conflicts, it’s a normal and quite frankly reasonable to lose confidence and begin looking for alternatives.

Addressing Differences

When these issues arise, you have 4 options You can either be adults on both sides and fine the right choice, or have no excuse for the outcome.

  1. Trust Your Partner
  2. Find Compromise
  3. Go Separate Ways
  4. Destroy Your Company

In my opinion, the only logical choice is a combination of trusting your partner and finding compromise. If this can’t be reached, then going separate ways is the only alternative. This doesn’t have to be abrupt, but if you don’t do this then destroying the company is going to happen.

It may take time, but your fall will be much more difficult to overcome, and can destroy opportunities for the future.

Turning Conflict Into Success

Having conflict is very normal in business. Arguments about the next steps in growth and finding agreement in what are the long term goals can be very hard, but it also provides an opportunity to build a stronger relationship.

If you are willing to put aside your ego and view these conflicts as a way to collaborate, finding an even better option is often the outcome. This just requires willingness of everyone involved to not always be right. To put the needs of the company and all those who follow you before your own.

When you do this, overcoming conflicts, finding better options and achieving success as a team becomes much more likely. It’s just a matter of suppressing ego.

All roads may lead to Rome, but aren’t road trips better with friends?

These are just a few things to think about in resolving business conflicts. Share your experiences and ways you’ve been able to solve problems. with others in the comments below!

4 Reasons You Need a Cofounder For Your Startup

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I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it will not be possible to clone yourself during your lifetime. Major bummer, right? That means that uttering, “If only there were two of me, I could get this done so much faster!” under your breath is never going to be a viable solution for getting something done, no matter how much you will it to happen. That includes starting a business. I’m sorry.

rsz_incontentad2With that cold hard truth out there in the open, let’s talk about an alternative. If it’s physically impossible to be in two places at the same time, what’s the next best thing? As I pondered this question while trying to decide whether or not to leave my secure, well-paying corporate job to start my own company, I began to consider enlisting the help of a partner in crime.

How I Found (and Pitched) My Co-Founder

There is no shortage of stories on co-founders. For every horror story about a business partnership gone awry, there are glowing commentaries about perfect, made-in-heaven matches that joined forces to conquer the world. Don’t believe me? Do a Google search. There are thousands of thought leaders arguing passionately on both sides of the issue. As with most things in life, the truth can probably be found somewhere in the middle.

For me, the decision to start ‘ZinePak with a co-founder came down to the simple fact that I thought it would be more enjoyable with someone else. I knew that the company— which creates custom publications for celebrities, brands and VIP-style ticketing for special events — would likely start out as a home-based business with freelance partners. I didn’t like the idea of being isolated.

My co-founder Kim Kaupe and I were co-workers at an advertising agency. Although we didn’t know each other all that well, I enjoyed working with her and thought our complementary skills (my background was in entertainment and hers was in magazine publishing) would benefit the business. When I told her about ‘ZinePak, I positioned it as a soft pitch.

“I’m planning on doing this new thing,” I said. “I think it’s going to be a lot more fun than what I’m doing here. You’d be really great at it, too. What do you think?”

Formalizing Our Relationship

A few days later, she said, “About that thing you’re doing. It sounds pretty cool. I’m in.” That night we went to Starbucks after work and sketched out an idea of what the company would look like. How much capital would we need? How would we get customers? How would we get vendors? Did we need employees right away?

We made our best guesses to each question and decided we would figure the rest out along the way. We agreed on an equity split, did a Google search to determine what corporate structure was most appropriate, and set up email addresses at our shiny new domain name. And with that, our business partnership was solidified.

Could Kim and I have spent months formalizing a 60-page partnership agreement and trying to map out every single hypothetical for the next twenty years? Of course. But we focused that energy on building an amazing company instead. We still don’t have a full-executed partnership agreement. We’ll probably get around to it one day, but in the meantime, we both trust each other to do the right thing.

The Benefits of a Two-Founder Team

Although I don’t have children, I imagine that starting a company alone must be something like being a single parent. In the early stages of a business, a startup requires almost around-the-clock attention. I didn’t get seven consecutive hours of sleep in the first 18 months of ‘ZinePak. The sleep I did get was filled with dreams (and sometimes cold-sweat-inducing nightmares!) about the work awaiting me in the morning.

The same way parents divide the responsibilities of raising a child and celebrate milestones together, co-founders can divvy up the workload and share in the accomplishments of their growing company. (We like to joke that ‘ZinePak is out of the toddler stage and onto the pre-school stage. Top of the class, naturally!) The benefits to this approach are many:

  • You can take a (real) break. Having a co-founder is like a permission slip to be at less than 100 percent on your bad days. It makes things that are nearly impossible for a one-(wo)man-show — like calling in sick or going on a vacation — much more plausible. And it makes the best days even better, because there is someone celebrating every victory with you.
  • Make better decisions. And there’s no law that says you have to agree with your co-founder 100 percent of the time. In fact, it’s better when you don’t. A certain level of discord means that you’re both championing opposing views. This creates an opportunity to discuss the merits of each viewpoint and ultimately decide which direction is better for the future of the company.
  • Focus on what you’re good at. When Kim and I started ‘ZinePak almost three years ago, our approach to dividing workload was, “I’ll work on whatever you’re not working on!” While it wasn’t ideal, it gave us both a chance to become intimately familiar with every aspect of our company. As time went on, we learned how to focus our efforts based on our mutual strengths — which, luckily, are complementary in almost every way, so we’re both able to do the day-to-day work we love while continuing to evolve our company. This is an important ingredient to making our relationship — and our company — work.
  • Double your odds. While having a business partner is, admittedly, not as cool as having a carbon copy of yourself running around, it’s much less creepy — and doubles your odds of being in the right place at any given time. Whether it’s an important event where you need to talk to dozens of people or simultaneous meetings on opposite sides of the globe, having someone you can trust to represent your business with the same level of integrity and passion as you is a huge advantage.

I encourage all would-be founders to look for a partner to take the wild ride of entrepreneurship with. No one but your co-founder — not your spouse, roommate, investors, or employees — will understand the experiences you have or the impact they have on you, both personally and professionally. Just like an awesome roller coaster is more fun if you’ve got a friend sitting next to you, starting a business with a partner can mean twice the excitement, creativity, enjoyment, and reward.

Brittany Hodak is the co-founder of ZinePak, a custom publication company that creates fan packages for entertainers, brands, and athletes. She holds an M.S. in Marketing from CUNY Baruch’s Zicklin School of Business and a B.A in Public Relations from the University of Central Arkansas. In 2010, she was named to Billboard’s 30 Under 30 List. More recently, she and her co-founder Kim Kaupe were named to Advertising Age’s 2013 40 Under 40 List.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.