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5 Pitfalls to Avoid When Growing a Business

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5 Pitfalls to Avoid When Growing a Business

Growing a business is an exciting prospect for any entrepreneur. It’s something you dream about and hope for because it means you’ve had a measure of success. It means the idea you’ve committed yourself to for years is meaningful and brings value to your customers.

With growth also comes challenges. While you’ve likely planned for this moment for a long time, there are always nuances in the current situation. You have to be willing to be flexible and embrace change. A leader must possess the ability to acknowledge and realize when things need to evolve, whether in their individual role or in key components of the culture that’s been established.

Leaders who don’t acknowledge this can be lured into certain pitfalls that can serve as bottlenecks that inhibit growth and, ultimately, success. With that in mind, here are five key pitfalls to avoid when growing your business.

Related: How to Scale Your Business Sustainably

1. Not knowing how and when to scale

Growing a business obviously takes a considerable amount of preparation before embarking on the journey. However, scaling the business, or increasing revenues faster than costs, is a completely different challenge.

Scaling is all about timing — notably, not starting too early — and making sure the processes put in place are airtight. As exciting as scaling up your business can be, it’s most important to take the time to evaluate needs, refine processes and pain points, and not scale too soon. This will ultimately put the company in a better position for long-term growth.

Determining repeatable and reproducible processes, including viable resources and technology, helps to standardize elements of the business that make it more efficient while freeing up other resources to focus on innovation. The discipline of scaling, at the right time, will go a long way toward ensuring your company grows successfully.

2. Clinging to certain daily responsibilities

When my co-founder and I first started our company in 2010, we handled every aspect of the business, from the biggest idea to the smallest minutiae of running the day-to-day.

If you were to fast-forward five years — after experiencing considerable success and adding a few dozen team members — my daily responsibilities became vastly different. Fast forward to today, and my day-to-day tasks are again different.

One of the many benefits of growing the business is the ability to hire people with the expertise to bring the attention, focus and skill sets needed to grow. Hiring people with the right skill sets affords team members the opportunity to own critical aspects of the business and gives them autonomy to do what they are good at and rise to the level needed to drive company success.

With the right people in place to sustain and grow the current business, leadership can focus on the necessary planning, resourcing and relationship-building to facilitate future growth.

Related: 5 Scaling Errors Entrepreneurs Should Avoid

3. Requiring every task and project match your vision 100%

With all due respect to my actual children, my company is my baby. I have raised it from its infancy and still spend countless hours thinking about and researching different ways to optimize our approach and fulfill our mission. That’s why I sympathize with startup leaders who are specific in how they want to see their vision enacted.

Regardless of the vision, the reality is that changes will occur from ideation to execution. Some will be sizable based on legal or regulatory requirements, while others may be nuanced based on other factors, like audience needs. Either way, be prepared to accept that tweaks to your vision are inevitable.

I’ve learned that if a project matches 80% to 90% of what I had envisioned, it’s a success. Ultimately, I’ve set the path and I’ve hired the team to lead it.

4. Forgetting your team has valuable perspectives

This might be a more eloquent way of saying don’t let your ego run rampant. One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen leaders make is assuming that their years of experience, market knowledge and familiarity with the business they’ve built means they know best.

When you are so invested, you need to be reminded that there are people within your company who are hired for their expertise, experience and diversity of thought. Their perspective is invaluable in terms of objectively looking at the viability of certain trends and assessing needs, like whether your company truly has the internal resources it needs to build a new technology platform.

As leaders, it’s important for us to remember that we hire highly qualified people not just to perform certain tasks, but to bring perspectives that complement and sometimes challenge our own. Learn to trust and empower the people you hire because you can’t grow without them.

Related: This 3-Pronged Approach Will Help You Scale Your Business to New Heights

5. Assuming company culture will always stay the same as you grow

A culture that feels like a family is possible, and it can be extremely empowering and morale-boosting with a team of 10, 15 or 25 people. However, as the company grows into triple digits and the services and capabilities increase and change, the approach to culture inevitably evolves with it. As a leader, it can be hard to wrap your head around the change.

While change is hard, it’s necessary. More importantly, it’s possible to evolve while also staying true to your mission and purpose. It starts with hiring people at all levels who are a good fit for the organization. It’s also pivotal to offer flexible work options and a range of benefits that suit your team members and keep you competitive in the market.

These pitfalls serve to remind leaders that change is inevitable and a natural part of growth. From the change in scope of your role to scaling the business and managing culture shifts, it’s all part of the process. Being aware of the need to change and being flexible can help to avoid these pitfalls and lead to success.

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When Can You Sue For Getting Cancer?

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When Can You Sue For Getting Cancer?

Being diagnosed with cancer can be devastating and affect anyone at any age. Several factors, such as genetics and lifestyle, can cause it. However, cancer can also be caused by the negligence of others. In such an instance, you can sue the people responsible for causing your cancer and claim compensation for the diagnosis and any associated damages.

Determining when and who to sue for getting cancer can be a complex process. So, it’s a wise idea to hire a lawyer to get you through the process and get the compensation you deserve. The attorney can advise you on when, how, and whom to sue for getting cancer.

With that said, here’s when you can sue for getting cancer:

  1. Product Liability 

You can sue for getting cancer from a defective product. For example, in one hair product cancer lawsuit, a claim was made that a hair straightening product was causing uterine cancer in women. The defects in the hair product increase the risk of developing uterine cancer for whoever uses it. If you think you’re in a similar situation, you can sue the manufacturers if a certain product increases your risk of developing cancer.

However, proving your case and claiming compensation can be challenging. In such a case, you must prove the defective product caused your cancer to sue the manufacturer or retailer. You’ll have to request tests on the products to prove the defect and the relationship to cancer development. The product defect has to have caused your cancer diagnosis directly. One example is when the product has excessive amounts of lead. You’ll need to hire experts or resort to government authorities to investigate the product to prove this. This way, you have a piece of solid evidence to sue the product manufacturer.

  • Medical Negligence 

Medical negligence is one of the most common reasons to sue for getting cancer. You could sue for medical malpractice if the doctors, healthcare facility, hospital, or other medical professionals failed to offer the standard of care causing your cancer diagnosis. For example, if the doctor failed to order necessary tests or misdiagnosed your case resulting in cancer progression, you can sue for medical negligence.  

To successfully sue for medical negligence, you must prove that the medical practitioner’s actions directly caused your cancer diagnosis. You must also show that you suffered damage because of the negligent actions of the medical practitioner. By doing so, you can claim compensation for treatment of progressing cancer, lost wages if you cannot work, and pain and suffering.

  • Environmental Factors 

Exposure to environmental pollutants and toxins is a common risk factor for cancer. Prolonged exposure to asbestos at the workplace, radiation, and other chemicals can increase cancer risk. If you can prove your cancer was caused by exposure to a certain environmental toxin like asbestos, consider suing the company or entity responsible for the pollutants.

Suppose a company’s activities produce excessive radiation that affects the population in a specific area and results in cancer. In that case, you can sue that company for exposing you to toxins that caused the development of your cancer.

Like the previous points, you must prove your cancer was directly caused by a specific substance you were exposed to. You’ll also have to show that the exposure was from the negligence of the company or entity you’re suing. Another aspect you must consider is the entity’s knowledge of the potential risks of exposing people to the toxin or substance. Since you’ll also claim that the company or entity was negligent, expose their bad practices that contributed to the development of your cancer.

Additionally, working in a hazardous environment may expose you to substances or toxins that can increase your cancer risk. For instance, if you’re a construction worker with constant exposure to asbestos, you’ll be at risk of developing cancer. Working as a firefighter can also expose you to asbestos and other carcinogenic substances that cause cancer.  

You can sue your employer for getting cancer while working in a hazardous environment. To be successful, you must prove the cancer was caused directly by exposure to a specific chemical or substance at the workplace or in the line of duty. For example, getting cancer from asbestos exposure at a construction site.  

In such a suit, you’ll claim compensation for the medical expenses covering the diagnosis and treatment, lost wages, damages for the pain and suffering caused to you and your family, and other associated costs.  

Conclusion  Getting a cancer diagnosis because of someone else’s negligence can be traumatizing and devastating. However, you can get a little relief through compensation for the medical expenses and other related damages, such as pain and suffering. The process of suing for getting cancer can be complicated, and it’d be best to hire an experienced lawyer to handle the litigation process. An attorney can also advise on the available legal options available and the compensation to seek.

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