To successfully transition from launching a business to leading one, after launching, our team becomes what we focus our energy on. Our employees execute the many tasks that we have coordinated to fulfill our goals and the business mission.

Why? Because we can’t do it alone. We need help.

Although many founders start with great ideas and amazing products, most businesses have high failure rates (30% in the second year and 50% in the fifth year, according to the SBA).

To increase chances of business success and longevity, founders need to expand their focus from just product to include their employees – the people who are responsible for much of the product’s success or failure.

How we lead our employees is the most important factor in how our business works after we’ve developed a product that can succeed in the market. Again, we cannot execute everything a business requires alone.

The good news: leadership is a learnable skill. It requires practice, patience (and of course learning), but becoming a better leader is accessible to virtually anyone who endeavors to try.

As founders of a new business, we have a demand on us that leaders of established businesses do not: we need to communicate our story and create meaning for our employees so that they both understand and care what happens in the business, in addition to learning and practicing leadership. That dovetails nicely with our passion for the solution, product or service we’ve developed, we just have to remember that our employees should be in the front of our audience

Decide to learn and practice being a good leader.