This blog post came out of a conversation today with business coach Hal Alpiar of BusinessWorks.US.  We were discussing the differences between coaching corporate leaders and startup entrepreneurs. I will be joining Hal in BusinessWorks.US to offer co-coaching that brings together our different backgrounds to help clients envision and realize startup success through many facets of business.

Many small businesses and startups today are run by former corporate managers. These entrepreneurs bring with them skills and attitudes from big business. This migration is occurring because the business world itself is scaling down from massive lumbering organizations and scaling up to small agile enterprises. Opportunities are in the world of small, nimble businesses.
 

In the entrepreneurial world of startups, all parts of the business process are accelerated and much easier to execute than they were even 10 years ago. The Internet of Everything makes starting and running a business streamlined. Even big, gawky manufacturing, production and logistics have a cleaner line directly to the customer.

Most business processes translate well into the new agile and transparent business environment. However, agile and transparent are not the same thing as quick and easy. A small, agile successful business still requires the same strong business principles and leadership skills of the long path. The people skills and rational decision making behind steering a business don’t lend themselves to short cuts.

Entrepreneurs especially may be susceptible to looking for the streamlined path to leadership and corporate governance. They are focused on their baby. They love the product or service they are developing. They seek sales, not markets. When you are the midst of working in overdrive, obsessed with your creation and trying to make your first few sales, is the most difficult time to step back and look at the longer road.

From Corporate Management to Small Business Leadership

That focus on product development and sales is exactly what baby needs to be nurtured into a viable business.  To organize and sustain that business, though, means strengthening entrepreneurial leadership skills. A little support and hand-holding especially through the first year can help make a smooth transition from corporate management to small business leadership.

Here are some of the issues an entrepreneur faces:

• When to hire someone and what to look for
• How to manage a small, possibly virtual, workforce
• Understanding the difference between cash flow and revenue, and how a shortage of one of those will sink you
• Why staying close to your customers will help you define your markets
• Sales, marketing, public relations and corporate communications – what’s necessary and what’s optional when you’re starting out
• How to maintain a semblance of a personal and/or family life while obsessing over your baby

What are some other issues you can think of that make entrepreneurial leadership training and coaching different than corporate executive coaching?