The skill of problem solving in your Startup

We ALL have problems. That is a fact.

Even the young infant that is hungry and wants his milk has a problem and he chooses to solve it by crying in order to let everyone know that he needs to be fed.

For an entrepreneur though, his business idea is brought to life only by how good his ability to solve the problems that stand in his way is. Simply put, the most successful entrepreneurs in history and the ones currently living are those who have solved the enormous problems they encountered and continue to encounter.

That is why for any entrepreneur wishing to be successful, it is indeed vital for them to sharpen and build their ‘problem solving’ skill.

Entrepreneurship is all about solving problems. Creating a startup, or managing any business, is all about problem solving.

From the moment you decide to bring your business idea to life to the moment you serve your first customer and onward, you will encounter thousands of problems. Some problems will require old solutions and other problems will require you to think of a solution that does not exist yet.

And how many problems you will solve will determine how far you will go.

Jack Ma,

the Ceo and founder of e-commerce titan Alibaba, said this about entrepreneurship and the skill of ‘problem solving’:

“A great entrepreneur is optimistic for the future and asks what problem you can solve, and how you can solve it different from the others, better than the others.”

This skill is a skill that does not come naturally for many, but it is also a skill that can be enhanced with effort and practice. So, how can you make yourself a better problem solver?

Consider the following ways:

Build resilience

I feel that the first thing you need to build is resilience.

If you want to get better at solving problems then you should not run away from them or give up every time you are faced with one you feel you cannot handle. Rather, plant your feet in the ground and face them over and over again.

Don’t let the problems defeat your spirit.

But rather, learn to convert that problem into your fuel. The more problems you solve and work through the better your problem solving skill will become.

Once you start giving up, it will slowly become a habit and you will never become the good problem solver that your business needs.

Always approach your everyday issues with a ‘what if’ mentality and you will build resilience.

Learn to identify the real problem

Identify what you are really dealing with.

In quite a number of circumstances, you will find that a lot of entrepreneurs and teams solving the wrong problems or the problems that do not even need solving. That is why it is important that you learn to identify the right problems.

If you don’t identify the right problem, you will not find a working permanent solution. You may fail to solve the problem entirely or the problem may keep coming back over and over again.

Start by observing the problem area closely to form a detailed image of what’s wrong. Analyze the situation from different angles and ask questions that will help you identify the real problem, for example questions like: is it the policies and regulations? Is it the employees or the people? Is it the system? Etc.

And once you find the real problem, you can then focus on solving it and you have better chances of finding a solution that will take you forward.

Learn to strip the problem down

In the manufacturing of Tesla’s electric cars, one of the biggest problems that the team was faced with, that would make mass production nearly impossible, was the cost of the battery that powers the entire car. The cost was just too high and expensive, and that would make the electric car unaffordable for the masses.

What was their solution?

After a close analysis, it turned out that one of the real problems, that had made the battery cost very high, was how the battery was packaged. So, vaguely they had to strip down the battery and it’s components down to the bare minimum, and then redesign and repackage it in a much cheaper way.

That method shows how one can solve a huge problem by stripping it down to its smallest component and then solving it, or solving those individual small problems which will enable you to eventually solve the huge problem.

Huge problems may seem intimidating when you initially face them, but they can be solved if you learn how to break them down.

Brain storm for alternative solutions

Another great way to improve your problem solving skill is by brain storming with your peers or your team.

This brings out the creativity and logical thinking from each individual, which are important aspects of problem solving, and it will teach you on how others think and solve their problems. This will also enable you to compare all alternatives and view things from a different angle that you may have not used if you were trying to solve it all alone.

If your peers or team members are intelligent creative people that you can rely on, the more you brain storm with them the better you will become at problem solving because their way of thinking will eventually rub off on you.

Choose the right solution

Improve your decision making process.

What is the point of having ten solutions when you cannot even choose which solution will solve the problem in the best possible way?

Therefore, after carefully considering all your options, you must select the best strategy for your problem and stick with your choice. If you keep moving from one opinion to the other you will not become a good problem solver because you will be stuck.

So put in place a decision making process that will allow you to make the right decision for your business.

Final thoughts…

Problem-solving may seem straightforward at first glance, but it is much harder than that and it will even require you to pick up skills that will improve your way of thinking and make you better at it.

But it is a skill, which if acquired, will make your business grow exponentially.

All the best problem solvers have worked at improving this ability, so ensure that you take the time to improve this skill, it is a skill that you will need in your business and in life.

Don’t discard it as a skill that does not matter to you. After all, Success if often defined as “the ability to solve problems.”

What other ways can improve one’s ability to solve problems in a business? Leave a comment and share your thoughts in the section below.

Thanks for Reading :)