Top 5 Issues That Hinder Start Ups

After working for start-ups to companies globally expanding the HR failures that most consistently destroy growing companies:

1. Inconsistent Hiring: The amazing software engineer who interviewed well but treats colleagues like they are beneath them. The salesperson who hits their targets but creates chaos in their wake by not feeling like they must follow the rules. Technical skills are necessary but not sufficient. Cultural fit isn't about everyone being the same, it's about creating shared values and the ability to work together effectively. Most startups have no structured way to assess this as they begin to grow.

2. The Founder Bottleneck: In the beginning, every decision must go through the founder. Every purchase or hire needs to gain founder approval. Every problem seems to land on the founder's desk. This can work when the company is five people, it becomes dysfunctional at fifteen and can be catastrophic at thirty. Founders who don’t build management capability as they grow and delegate effectively create companies that can't scale beyond their own attention span.

3. Managing Performance Issues: "Everyone knows Employee A isn't meeting the required standard for the business, but they were an early hire and we don't want to upset the team." So Employee A stays, doing the lowest grade of work, while high performers watch and wonder why they're working so hard and are picking up the slack. Eventually, the high performers will leave, while Employee A remains creating damage.

4. Legal Landmines: Contracts cobbled together from random templates. No documentation of performance issues before a dismissal. Inconsistent application of policies that creates discrimination risk. These don't seem urgent until they explode. I've seen companies nearly destroyed by employment disputes that could have been avoided with basic policy documentation.

5. Missing Succession Plan: When the key information for your business is tacit knowledge in one person's head, you're one resignation or one sickness away from a major crisis. Critical knowledge needs to be documented and distributed. Cross-training is key to survival.

If you're wondering where your risks are for your company, let's talk. Sometimes the gap between your company thriving and crashing is just knowing what questions to ask.