Identifying Productivity Killers: What Are the 5 Biggest Bottlenecks That Startups Face?

It doesn’t matter how large or small a company is, at some point, it will experience bottlenecks—those annoying issues whatever that stifle company growth. The trouble is that, whatever the bottleneck might be, it can be a death knell for any company. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be that way.

At some point in the life of virtually any company, bottlenecks will develop. It doesn’t matter whether they take place in only one part of a company, a few, or many. What matters is that, as soon as one develops, or hopefully, before they develop, bottlenecks are dealt with effectively. The key to fixing them, however, is to deal with them effectively wherever they might be and in whatever form they are in. This is where employee communication tools come into play. Ignore bottlenecks to your own detriment, but the tools listed below will reignite unimaginably sustained growth into the future.

1. Inefficient Time Management

It doesn’t matter whether you are Bill Gates or a startup, everyone has the same 24 hours in a day. How entrepreneurs uses their time will determine where they will end up in the game of business and life. Don’t spend major time on minor things. Not only do successful entrepreneurs know what they should be working on at any given moment, but they also know what isn’t worth their time and when to delegate tasks that are better given to someone else to do.

2. Lack of Money

It’s been said many ways, but according to the Small Business Administration, most new businesses fail in the first year due to running out of money. Before any entrepreneur gets started in business they should make sure they have access to adequate financial resources, whether it be their own or from investors.

3. Too Much Noise

Regardless of the size of a business, owners are constantly being bombarded with noise. It might be coming from customers, employees, local government, or numerous other sources. But regardless of where the noise is coming from, it’s bothersome. Successful entrepreneurs know how to cut down on the noise, regardless of its source.

4. A Small (or Nonexistent) Network

As much as some entrepreneurs like the “Lone Ranger” approach to success, it works better in theory than in real life. Instead, successful entrepreneurs have extensive networks of friends, customers, and business associates that they work with and through to be successful. Successful entrepreneurs are constantly expanding their networks because they know that the more people they know the more successful they will be.

5. Growing Too Much Too Soon

Growing a business might sound exciting and interesting, but most successful entrepreneurs know that right along with good growth will come problems. As a result, successful entrepreneurs carefully manage the growth of their business in order to stay one step ahead of problems, changing the ways they work, pivoting when needed to meet what works and what doesn’t head-on.

Successful entrepreneurs realize from the beginning that there will be problems to overcome in the progress of their business. Not only that, but they are prepared to meet their challenges when they are encountered. With time and experience, the successful entrepreneur will be able to anticipate problems before they arise, and by overcoming these problems, their fortunes will soar.