Errors novice studio manager

Hello.
Today I want to talk about the mistakes that novice executives often make and about simple ways to avoid them.
So, you have opened a studio. Problems with renting an office, first orders, selection of the team, behind, what's next?
For the studio, the first year is the most difficult and significant period on which its continued existence and success depends. Very many leaders threw their undertakings in the very first year, unfortunately having gone through almost the same path of typical mistakes.

So the first mistake. The client is the enemy.

This is especially true of companies selling "creative" product - web studios, creative agencies, etc. Clients are beginning to be treated as ideological enemies, barbarians who ruin creations and spoil brilliant concepts and ideas. This is a typical human reaction, protecting its right to individuality and personal opinion.
Solution: You need to understand one simple thing: your money is in the pocket of a client. You can enter into a dispute with him and impose your own variant only in one case: if you are firmly convinced of the effectiveness of your project and are ready to take all the responsibility and guarantees. Otherwise, it is better to make the required edits and thereby maintain the relationship with the customer. Naturally you need to try to find a compromise that would not get a very bad product. But even if the client insists, it is better to overcome his abilities, and to do as he wants, although it is not necessary to put in the portfolio.

Mistake number 2. Failure to meet deadlines and inability to organize a team

A huge amount of useful literature has been written about the effective management of the project team and time management, this knowledge should not be neglected. Beginning as a leader, I myself made mistakes in this regard, trying to control not the situation, but its consequences - by deadlines. Most often, novice web studios consist of a designer and a project manager. In this case, delaying the deadlines is literally a death for the company.
Solution: It is more profitable to focus on the rapid creation of low-cost projects than to take up a long-term, expensive order - this ensures constant financial investments, forms a turn, and gives stability in the market. If the company is developing a small number of large projects, then it is more expedient to break them down into small stages in order to more accurately control the deadlines. I will tell about this reception separately.
Delaying the deadlines is a conscious failure on two indicators at once: losses and bad relationships with customers.
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Error number 3. Internal conflicts

Conflicts are inevitable. They do not need to be afraid, but they need to be able to manage.
Solution: a team is a team, not a family. Therefore, relations in it should be respectful, trusting, partnering, but in no way crony! Democracy is good in moderation; if abused, it threatens to result in internal friction and general unproductiveness. Sooner or later, any company goes through the stage of expansion or change of team - and this is absolutely normal. A company cannot remain small for a long time - it either develops or perishes.

Error number 4. Fear of self-promotion

Some people think that promoting and advertising their services is unethical. This is a wrong opinion.
Solution: there is nothing reprehensible in advertising your own activities if you are confident in the quality of your product. If you do not know in the market - the company will have no development. The main thing in this matter is to clearly define positioning, develop a suitable strategy and systematically implement it. If you have created an excellent product, its promotion is a direct help to people who need it.

Error number 5. Overall concept.

Many tend to overestimate the studio's mission in the field of web development. In fact, everything is quite simple: usually the studio is not a trendsetter of web fashion and not responsible for the aesthetic development of Internet users. This is a manufacturer of a product, whose success depends on the quality of its product and the alignment of all business processes.
The solution: quality, time and design value are the main components of success.
And like any other type of business, web development needs strategic planning, without which development is impossible. At a minimum, think over and write down what goals you want to achieve in a year or two and what you need to do.
Fortunately, this segment of the market is far from being the most highly competitive and highly dynamic, so with the right approach and management, everyone with sufficient patience and flexibility can succeed.

Summing up
A business environment in which personal, human qualities are of paramount importance. And to become successful, you need to understand one thing: you do not know anything, even if you have an MBA in your pocket. Each client, each meeting will learn something new, test skills to test the strength. Do not hesitate to admit that you do not know something, ask questions, ask for advice.
After the crisis, the market expects a new stage of development. It's time to use all the possibilities of this period wisely.