Leading Change In Small Businesses

Why don't a lot of small family owned businesses scale ? Because the focus is on saving taxes vs increasing turnover. When I left P&G in 2014 and joined my family business, the first thing I noticed was the reluctance of my dad and uncle to "leave the cash counter". For the past 30 years either my dad or my uncle would sit at the cash counter. On weekends during rush hours when my dad has to oversee kitchen ops, 10-year old me would handle the cash sales! Logic was simple - the cash collected at the end of the day would be counted, a bare minimum sales would be recorded, and the rest of the cash would be stored or "invested" in gold or with some community investor. It took me serious (with a capital S) convincing to let a trained staff handle the cash register along with a POS system for accounting - so that the founder could be free and focus on expansion, marketing, manufacturing, etc. Apsara Ice Creams would not be 100+ stores pan India if that fundamental mindset change has not happened. To all first generation members of family businesses - it's time to completely overhaul the way you've done business so far. We are in an internet led growth economy and if you want the business to survive the inevitable "big company" onslaught then you need to change your mindset. And take more risk. To all second generation entrepreneurs - don't get comfortable with the way your family has run the business for years / decades. Challenge the model, pilot a small project to convince them, but be really clear about the next 10-20 years. Their career is almost over, your career is just starting !

Leaders ask me about frameworks they can use to identify and assess external risks and opportunities for their organizations. I have begun to use PESTLE analysis. I believe it is complimentary to risk management. First, some background, the framework was introduced by Harvard Business School professor Francis J. Aguilar in his 1967 book, Scanning the Business Environment, as a tool for businesses to systematically analyze external macro-environmental factors that could impact their strategic planning. The framework has evolved to PESTLE. ▶️Political-Government policies, political stability, trade restrictions, tariffs, and tax policies that may impact a business. ▶️Economic-Encompasses the economy and how conditions, like inflation rates, interest rates, exchange rates, GDP growth, and consumer disposable income, affect the business and its market. ▶️Social-Defined as cultural aspects, demographics, and consumer behaviors. ▶️Technology-This covers the velocity of technological innovation, automation, R&D that could affect an industry or market. ▶️Legal-This includes laws and regulations impacting the industry. ▶️Environmental-These is defined by such topics as such topics like climate change, sustainability practices, ethical sourcing, etc. PESTLE analysis is complimentary to risk management because it provides a structured framework for identifying and assessing external risks that are beyond an organization's influence and/or control. PESTLE helps leaders look at the macro-environment. The insights from a PESTLE analysis can be used as an input to scenario planning. This helps leaders consider how different external changes might play out and develop appropriate resiliency plans. Executives are expected to be strategic navigators in disruptive uncertainty. As a fan of risk management, this framework can help you mitigate internal financial, operational and technology risks by understanding the external emerging risks that can reshape your business overnight in our 24/7 business risk cycle. #RiskManagement #CFO #Leaders Inside Edge Risk Advisors LLC

You're the bottleneck in your own business. Yesterday someone asked me how I stopped being everywhere at once in my company. Hard truth. Gently said— You're not irreplaceable. You just haven't taught anyone to replace you. Here's how to "Buy back your time". (hat tip to Dan Martell) Step 1: Time Audit Track every task for a week. Not what you think you do. What you actually do. That Instagram scroll? Write it down. That "quick" email that took 47 minutes? Document it. That client revision you should've delegated? Note it. Step 2: Create Your Escape Plan (SOPs) Record yourself doing the task. Loom. iPhone. Whatever. Just hit record and narrate your thinking. "I'm choosing this font because..." "I always check this metric first because..." "When clients say X, I respond with Y because..." Your brain on video. Your process in pixels. As Dan says, Camcorder yourself. Step 3: The Three-Phase Handoff Phase 1: "Watch me" They observe. Take notes. Ask questions. You're still doing. They're learning. Phase 2: "Let's do it together" They drive. You navigate. Supervised practice with immediate feedback. Phase 3: "You've got this" They own it. Random quality checks. Only escalate when stuck. This isn't delegation. This is how you clone yourself. The result? They get agency. You get freedom. The business gets systems. Most founders think they're protecting quality by doing everything themselves. You're not. You're protecting your ego. Your business shouldn't need you to function. It should need you to grow. Big difference. What task are you doing this week that someone else should be doing next month? Name it. Own it. Then delegate it. Small Business Builders #smallbusinessmentor #businessgrowth #delegation #buybackyourtime

Speed doesn’t kill startups. Lack of structure does. At Super.com, we scaled to $150M+ in revenue and 200+ team members without losing our edge. How? We built what we call Mission-Aligned Teams (MATs): a system inspired by Amazon’s single-threaded owners (STOs). STOs looked great for Amazon's scale but felt impossible for growing companies like ours. These 2 critical barriers made it impractical for most businesses and scale-ups: 1. Engineering Squad Requirements: True STO demands complete engineering teams (including managers) reporting to a single owner. At our size, we couldn't justify full engineering squads for each business unit. To make it work, we would have to quadruple our engineering headcount. 2. P&L Owner Complexity: STO leaders need unicorn-level skills: deep business acumen and P&L management experience. Not only are these leaders rare and expensive, but requiring all these skills in one person would have limited our talent pool and slowed our ability to launch new initiatives. What we needed was a model that captured STO's focus and accountability but worked for our size and growth needs. That's when we created Mission-Aligned Teams (MATs), a hybrid model that changed our execution (for good) Key principles: • Each team owns a specific mission (e.g., improving customer service, optimizing payment flow) • Teams are cross-functional and self-sufficient • Leaders can be anyone (engineer, PM, marketer) who's good at execution • People still report functionally for career development • Leaders focus on execution, not people management The results exceeded our highest expectations: New MAT leads launched new products, each generating $5-10M in revenue within a year with under 10 person teams. Planning became streamlined. Ownership became clear. Today, I’m giving away our Mission Aligned Teams Guide and Template and offering select high-impact 1:1 advisory calls on Intro, alongside the founders of Zillow, Reddit, Inc., and veteran VCs and experts like Andrew Chen If your team can’t answer “What matters most this week?” in under 5 seconds, it’s not a team. It’s a traffic jam. If you're scaling and structure is slowing you down, I can help. ✔️ Team design for execution ✔️ Scaling from founder-led to systems-led ✔️ Growth loops and organizational clarity ✔️ OKRs that actually drive results ------------------- 🚨 Want the exact Mission Aligned Teams Guide and Template we used to go from $0 to $150M+ revenue/year for FREE? • Like and share this post • Comment "MATs" I'll send you our entire MATs Guide — including the real team structures, internal templates, and step by step implementation guide that fueled our growth and built Super.com These are the same docs behind a Harvard case study and our $85M raise. No fluff — just what actually worked. This won’t be public for long, and due to time constraints, I'll be giving priority access for folks who shared this post. (photo credits to Manu Cornet)

When I started my leadership career, I thought I had to choose between two extremes: being hands-off and trusting my team to handle everything, or being hands-on and micromanaging every detail. But I soon realized that neither approach works well in every situation. Sometimes, you need to be hands-on and dive into the problem with your team. Especially when it’s something new, complex, or urgent. Other times, you need to be hands-off and let your team figure it out on their own. Especially when it’s something they have done before or something they can learn from. The key is to adapt your style based on the situation and the needs of your team. But how do you know when to switch? Here are some tips that helped me: 𝗣𝘂𝘀𝗵 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿. If a team member comes to you with the same kind of problem repeatedly, don’t just solve it for them. Ask them what they have tried, what they have learned, and what they need from you. But don’t push back just because you are afraid of getting into the details. That will only make you lose credibility and trust. 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲. When you decide to get involved, don’t take over the problem. Instead, ask the right questions, listen to your team, and offer your insights and suggestions. Your role is to help, guide, discuss, and brainstorm with your team, not to do their work for them. 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆. Being flexible doesn’t mean being unpredictable. You still need to have clear expectations, goals, and feedback for your team. And you need to communicate your reasons for being hands-on or hands-off in different situations. That way, your team will understand your logic and respect your decisions. Being a hands-on and hands-off leader at the same time is not easy, but you need to adapt to thrive. It will help you grow as a leader, empower your team, and deliver better results. What do you think? Do you agree with this approach? How do you balance being hands-on and hands-off as a leader? Let me know in the comments below. #leadership ------------------ ▶️ Want to see more content like this and also connect with other CS & SaaS enthusiasts? You should join Tidbits. We do short round-ups a few times a week to help you learn what it takes to be a top-notch customer success professional. Join 730+ community members! 💥 [link in the comments section]

We need "Entrepreneurial Leaders"; not just entrepreneurs or leaders. I meet many founders & business leaders and observe one aspect, that if changed can create huge benefits for the business world. Not all entrepreneurs are leaders. Not all leaders are entrepreneurial. Entrepreneurs are often idea machines; they dream big, move fast, break things, build things. But not all of them know how to lead people, build culture, or scale sustainably. Leaders, on the other hand, are great with people, process, and progress.They inspire, align, and are expert at driving execution. But many aren’t wired to take risks, challenge norms, or act with the urgency that innovation demands. The impact we see on both sides, Startups led by entrepreneurs grow fast but burn out even faster.They crash from chaos, teams burn out or tune out. Whereas corporates led by traditional leaders may stay stable but become irrelevant. They get stuck in comfort zones, growth slows, Innovation dies. But what if we foster mindset shift that creates "Entrepreneurial Leaders." People who can: - Think like a founder - Lead like a coach - Move like a startup - Build like a strategist One can certainly see that, it's the mindset problem, not DNA and hence can be altered. In my view here's how entrepreneurs & leaders can drive the shift; in thinking & in actions- Mindset shift for entrepreneurs: From “I’ll do whatever it takes” → to “I’ll build systems that scale without me.” From “It’s my vision” → to “It’s our shared mission.” From “Speed at any cost” → to “Sustainable, repeatable growth.” Mindset shift for leaders: From “Let’s avoid risk” → to “Let’s manage risk while trying new things.” From “Here’s the plan” → to “Let’s experiment and iterate.” From “Keep the business stable” → to “Let’s challenge the status quo.” Businesses, startups or small, medium & large corporates will see higher success & sustainable future when entrepreneurs will learn to lead & leaders will learn to think like entrepreneurs. I firmly believe that the future belongs to those who can both invent and inspire, build and lead, dream and deliver. So whether you're a founder, CXO, or functional leader, ask yourself: How can I build the muscle to be an entrepreneurial leader? #entrepreneurs #leaders #mindset #growth #success

Let’s just start and see where it goes. It sounds agile. It feels lean. But for SMBs, it’s often the reason projects stall When you're working with limited time and team capacity, direction matters more than speed. That’s why I borrow a principle from Amazon’s playbook: Working backwards. At Amazon, before any team writes a line of code, they write a press release. Not for marketing. For focus It forces one hard question upfront: If this succeeds, what will the customer actually experience? Now imagine what that unlocks for your business: → No more “building for the sake of building” → Clear decisions anchored to outcomes → Alignment without 50 meetings How do we adapt it for smaller teams: ✔️We skip the fluff, no decks, no endless planning ✔️We write a simple customer story that defines success clearly ✔️We avoid corporate jargon, just real language and real outcomes ✔️We reverse-engineer from the goal to decide what’s actually needed ✔️We align fast, so small teams don’t waste time chasing the wrong thing Example:Project: Improve client handoff process →Instead of “Improve client handoff,” We write: “Clients say the new handoff is so smooth, they felt taken care of from day one. Suddenly, everyone knows what we’re aiming for. And what not to waste time on. Because when you're small, clarity isn’t a luxury. It's your strategy. 👉 Want to test this with your next project? DM me, I’ll show you how we do it 

The CEO's voice crackled with anxiety over the video call. "𝑾𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑵𝒐𝒘." I sighed inwardly. Our 3rd emergency meeting in 11 weeks. 𝐀 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲. The pattern was clear: ↪ Market shift triggers uncertainty in business model ↪ Anxious CEO calls for full strategy overhaul ↪ Team scrambles to re-plan everything ↪ Brief illusion of control ↪ New market shift.  ↪ Rinse. Repeat. The CPO was frustrated: "𝑾𝒆'𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌." The CSO was exasperated: "𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒑..." Innovation stalled. Base business thudded. The team was burning out. My role as advisor? 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐩 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞. Inspired by an aha moment in my morning walk, I posed a question. "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞?" Confused looks all around, but I also saw a glimmer of intrigue. 🧠 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤: • Embrace uncertainty as a catalyst for innovation • Replace rigid plans with adaptive strategies • Cultivate team resilience over leader omniscience 🛠️ 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐖𝐞 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝: • Weekly "uncertainty check-ins" to normalize change • Rapid prototyping instead of endless planning • Celebrating adaptive wins, not just meeting targets 👏 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 • Endless strategy sessions cut by 70% • Two major product launches in 6 months • CEO anxiety noticeably lowered • Team cohesion and creativity skyrocketed 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐀𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥. 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧: What leadership anxiety can you transform into the rocket fuel of adaptability? Photo: me recreating my face when hit by the Anxiety♻️Adaptability aha that morning! #Entreprenurship #Anxiety #AdaptiveLeadership #Transformation #EmotionalIntelligence

[𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗠𝗨-𝗦𝗜𝗗 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲] 🧭 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗘𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 In many family-owned businesses, #governance isn’t the first thing you focus on. It’s legacy. It’s control. It’s trust. But over the years, I’ve seen how the absence of governance — however well-intentioned — can quietly become a company’s greatest risk. Reflecting back on one of the insights from the from the SMU-SID Directorship Course is the fear of losing control. Founders often worry that bringing in independent voices or formalizing board processes might dilute their influence. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀: 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆, 𝗶𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺. In #familyoffices, where decisions are deeply personal, governance is even more essential. It provides structure without stripping away soul. It separates family dynamics from business direction. And when done right, it creates space for the company to grow beyond the founding generation. 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗜 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘄 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗸𝗲𝘆𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲: 🔑 The shift from family board to professional board is a mindset change, not just a procedure. It requires courage, trust, and clarity. 🔑 Governance means bringing in the right expertise, planning for succession, and empowering independent directors as true stewards, not compliance figures. 🔑 Resilience without renewal eventually hardens into rigidity. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗰𝘆, 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲-𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁. As #leaders, our role is to reframe governance as a growth enabler, not an erosion of influence. Because the most enduring legacies are built not just on vision, but on systems that allow that vision to thrive. Curious to hear: how are you seeing governance evolve in your own family business or investments? #Governance #FamilyBusiness #Leadership #SustainableGrowth #BoardLeadership #PrivateEquity

The best leaders don’t stick to one style, they adapt. Here’s how. 👇 When I led a new team, I noticed this: some members needed minute guidance, while others performed best with freedom. That’s when I realized that leadership isn’t about doing things your way, it’s about what they need. The Situational Leadership Model breaks this down into four key styles👇 🔹 Directing – Think of a new joinee who needs clear instructions and step-by-step guidance. The leader makes decisions and closely supervises the execution here.  🔹 Coaching - Imagine a team member who knows the basics but lacks confidence.  The leader still makes decisions but explains the “why” behind them.  🔹 Participating – This is when the employee is ready to share decision-making.  So, the leader supports and guides them.  🔹 Delegating – Your best performers don’t need micromanagement.  You trust them to lead and innovate. When you adapt your leadership style to match your team’s needs, you create: ✅ Higher engagement ✅ Better performance ✅ Stronger teams So, ask yourself: Are you leading in a way that supports your team’s growth? 🤔 #situationalleadership #leadershipstyle #adaptiveleadership #leadershipdevelopment #leadershiptheory #effectiveleadership #leadershipskills