Business Problem Identification for Start-ups and Family Businesses

The largest difficulty in identifying problems in businesses is that the owners and entrepreneurs are either unaware of the underlying problems or hesitant to acknowledge that their company has a problem.

Sometimes, the difficulties are built into the structure of the business model, which hides them and prevents management from realizing how serious the issue is or from labeling it as such. It is comparable to a patient who has a problem but doesn’t recognize it or puts off seeking help until it becomes a health emergency.

Business concerns alter over time as the company expands and their nature also shifts. In the early phases of a business, anything that prevents growth is a problem; during the growth phase, the problem’s severity is determined by financial factors. The issue in the sustainability phase is the standard deviation.

This article will assist in defining business issues that can affect an organization’s output at different points in its life cycle. Let’s start by thinking about what a business challenge is.

A business problem is what?

Any obstacle, circumstance, or variable that causes a discrepancy between the anticipated goals and the actual results is referred to as a business problem. Some issues arise naturally (such as machine failure), while others necessitate a thorough investigation of the company (declining or slow growth).

A problem’s identification is of utmost importance since once done, management can quickly fix issues. While many business problems are common to all businesses, others are unique to the kind of company that an organization engages in.

According to Einstein:

If I had an hour to save the world, I would spend 59 minutes describing the issue and 1 minute finding a solution.

Families dominate business ownership on the subcontinent. Family enterprises carry their leadership from one generation to the next. Each generation uses its brains to expand and maintain the firm, yet they occasionally fail to recognize the fundamental issues that plague its industry.

One of these concerns is when the leadership ignores serious issues in favor of minor ones that are less important.

The business problem identification model examines the key components of a company with the specific goal of identifying and fixing problems. so assisting businesses in maintaining themselves for future generations.

Finding business problems

Three phases—initiation/start-up, growth, and sustainability—can be used to categorize businesses. The entrepreneur must constantly contribute to a variety of business tasks throughout the startup phase of a business. Power transference is given second-class treatment and is frequently disregarded. Every procedure and choice is made by entrepreneurs. The need for delegation and standardizing the processes, however, becomes crucial as the organization enters the growth phase since one person cannot effectively participate in every decision-making process.

It has been noted that most issues in the context of family business practices on the subcontinent depend on the owner’s personal viewpoint. However, if the owner believes differently, the case is not granted the status of a problem, regardless of how serious the issue may be. If the owner feels that the current situation can affect the firm, it is termed a problem. In a typical business, Mr. Abdul Rehman Arif (founder of MNBEC) expresses his concerns about the absence of problem identification:

The definition of an issue in a traditional business is distinct from the real definition of a business challenge. A difficulty in a family business is defined according to Saith’s (business owner) perception of the situation. Unfortunately, in our workplace, if an owner’s feelings toward a problem alter, the problem is no longer considered to be a problem.

A typical firm or startup can be broken down into three phases. The problem statement changes and diverges from its initial definition at each phase. Each step also necessitates a thorough comprehension of the requirements of the organization.

– The initiating phase is the initial segment. Teams are typically small and processes are easily scaleable at this early level. Whether or whether an issue is a business challenge depends on the entrepreneur’s perspective and comprehension of it. Anything outside of the person in charge of the operation’s comfort zone may be an issue.

– The second segment occurs as the company starts to grow. The issue is characterized in terms of financial criteria during this stage. Any factor that raises the loss is problematic. Organizations need to start paying attention to process standardization at this stage.

-The third section determines how a firm will develop. Depending on “how a firm characterizes its difficulties,” a company either grows or shrinks at this point. Standardized procedures will increase the likelihood that the business will survive and expand. Whatever deviates from the norm becomes the problem statement. Adhering to best practices and spotting issues early on, it aids organizations in achieving their goals. There is a problem that needs to be fixed if the findings differ from the standards.

However, if the company is still identifying its issues based on the owner’s intuition and expertise, it is likely to fail. The collapse will force the business to return to its old ways, and short-term variations in output will start to show up.

The problem statement can be characterized as a departure from standards as the company begins to standardize. The business can determine the reasons for variation and take measures to fix the issue.