by S Lorentz

Created on: August 18, 2008   Last Updated: June 13, 2009

Recent information was shared on squido.com listing "The Top 10 Reasons Startups Fail". The #1 reason is Poor Execution. Surprised? I sure hope not. One of the points of reference from this article was to "surround yourself with talented people who aren't afraid to speak up when you're headed off a cliff." Sounds like good advice. Another article written recently by Patricia Schaefer, "The Seven Pitfalls of Business Failure and How to Avoid Them", states "Poor Management" as the #2 reason. Yikes! Let see if we can't find some sure fire ways to help fix that.

There so many positions that needs to be covered with expertise, when looking at an Executive Team. Looking at the holistic picture of a business we need professionals in finance, purchasing, sales, production, hiring/managing employee, and marketing to start. Lack of business experience or leadership/management experience within the Executive Team could be fatal to a startup. Another important necessity is making sure the Executive Team is on board with your strategic goals. Create your Vision, Key Performance Indicators, and Core Values together and live and breathe by them.

The first step in creating your Executive team is to determine what exactly do you need both currently and in the future. Look into your crystal ball and your answer will appear. Obviously, if you had a crystal ball that worked you wouldn't need to read this article and you'd have the best of the best working for you.

So we are looking for what wee need in our potential Executive Team. The question to ask is; are you fully utilizing your current talent pool. What exactly do you need to hire for? The bigger question, can you afford it? Your talent needs to be competent in the areas you are lacking. Well maybe not lacking, but; you should hire to compliment your strengths not duplicate your strengths. Your executives need to bring added talent in one or more of the areas you have determined as a necessity.

Now that we have determined our need from our wants it's time to start by making your job descriptions. We want to outline a clear picture of what kind of employees we want to attract, what we will expect from them, how much we will compensate them, and minimum requirements. It is important to have a detailed job description separate and apart from other job descriptions. Be detailed; but flexible. It's as simple as changing Office Manager to AR/AP Office Manager. What exactly are they applying for? This will help you weed out unqualified

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