A s any entrepreneur will tell you, the euphoric fist bumps of launching a business soon give way to face palms. It’s a universal truth of startup life: The day-to-day pain points of running your own business come at you faster than a tray of shots at a frat party. Here, then, are some of the most common pain points that make founders reach for the nearest gummy, along with a few bits of advice for preventing and alleviating them.
Staffing Headaches
After successful careers in C-level marketing, Kate and Mark Scholz charted a new course with the purchase of two dog-training franchises. Soon after opening, one thing became painfully apparent:“Employees these days don’t have much allegiance,” Mark says. “They’ll quit on a dime with zero notice.” Kate and Mark cite staffing as the “single hardest thing” about starting a business. They strongly advise aspiring entrepreneurs to “hire slow and fire fast,” along with putting extensive hiring/vetting protocols in place, codified and in writing.
A lot of younger employees these days do this thing where they just don’t show up for work. So you call them and they say, “Oh right, I quit.”
–Kate Scholz, Franchisee Zoom Room Dog Training
THE MENTAL TAX
Kate and Mark also point to “always being at work mentally” as a source of angst. “Some people get into business thinking, ‘Man, I’ll just hire some good people and get this thing on autopilot. It’ll be a breeze.’ That’s a laugh. You’ve gotta be mentally immersed in the business and involved in the day-to-day minutiae. Every day matters.”
Nonstop DIY
When your startup is a century-old schoolhouse converted into a destination wedding venue in tiny Martindale, Texas, you soon realize the importance of having several *literal* tools in your *literal* toolbox. This realization struck Craig and Wendi Foster soon after purchasing the decommissioned schoolhouse and historic landmark they planned to transform into a Texas Hill Country wedding villa.
“We don’t have a staff, we do all the work ourselves,” says Craig. “Out of necessity, I’ve learned how to fix stuff. I watch YouTube videos constantly.”
Since their initial launch in 2017, Craig and Wendi have tackled everything from 1920s-era plumbing issues to re-tarring the roof in volcanic Texas heat. While it’s well understood that DIY is table stakes for starting a business (especially for the bootstrappers), it’s hard to adequately anticipate the tsunami of tasks a founder has to tackle–and their relentless nature.
You can’t just hire people whenever you need something fixed/handled/taken care of. You’ll go broke that way.
–Wendi Foster, Owner Martindale Schoolhouse Wedding Venue
Partners With Different Expectations
When two or more people enter into the loveless marriage that is owning a business, rarely do they share the same vision of the road ahead. In all the tipsy euphoria of starting a business, it’s easy to overlook the “where are we going with this?” heart-to-heart talk.
When filmmaker Mike Woolf founded Beef & Pie Productions, he assumed his business partner shared Mike’s vision to grow the business. Nope! That initial misalignment between the business owners led to a surprise departure by Mike’s partner a few years later.
“I mean, it was just a complete disconnect between us that I didn’t know existed until my partner literally up and bolted after years working together,” Mike recalls.
Unfortunately, Mike and his former partner can’t go back in time and create a Founders Agreement that specifies and codifies the expectations of all business owners. But aspiring entrepreneurs can take this vital step on day one of their business to keep everyone on the same page and prevent future misunderstandings.
“No matter how well you think you know your business partner, get all business decisions and planning on paper, Day One.”
–Mike Woolf, Filmmaker, Owner Beef & Pie Productions
The Surprising Cost Of Doing Business
Another pain point caught Mike and his team by surprise: The costs that pop up just to do their jobs. “Permits, licenses, all kinds of insurance, lawyers, a vehicle…man, it comes at you from all sides. We thought we were basically opening a lemonade stand. Little did we know there’d be so many costs just to do our jobs.”
