by Asa Beavers
Can you remember the day you first launched your business or started your new leadership position? I'm sure you were full of unlimited optimism and were brimming with enthusiasm. Your mission seemed simple - go out and find customers, provide top notch service, and make money. Your confidence was high because you knew your business so well and you were passionate about making a difference for your customers. At the time you wore many hats. You were in charge of marketing, sales, production, operations, finance. You even cleaned up and delivered products to customers. Probably the only thing you may not have been in charge of was HR because it was just you.
Basically, your business cycle looked like this: Owner, Customers, Business. As the owner you took care of the customers, the customer bought from you and took care of the business, and the business took care of you.
It probably wasn't too long before you realized that there's only so many hours in the day and your ability to juggle all the activities of the business was suffering. You probably also realized that the revenue you could generate in the business was in direct proportion to the number of hours you were willing to work. In essence, you were trading time for money. You had created a 60+ hours a week job for yourself which, I'm guessing, probably wasn't your primary goal when you started the business. After all, a business is supposed to work and generate revenue even when the owner or leader is not.
When a business leader builds a team they create leverage for themselves. It's the leader's job to put the right people in the right places doing the right things. When you get it right, an effective team will make your business work efficiently and profitably. I know what you're thinking, easier said than done. So what does the leader have to do differently?
First, they have to be willing to remove themselves from certain parts of the business. There are certain things the leader and only the leader can do, and then there are many things the leader can delegate. In determining what those things are the business leader needs to identify what they like doing and what they're good at, then work to hire the right people to handle the things they don't like or aren't good at. If a business leader doesn't like accounting and isn't good at it then hiring a bookkeeper is a real good idea.
Second, the business leader needs to have systems for every aspect of the business. The fact is, people don't run the business, systems run the business and people run the systems. Without systems your business is bound to run inconsistently. Most people who work for you will try do their best because they care, but how things get done from person to person may vary. Having systems and rules in place ensures that the phone gets answered the same way everytime, customers get greeted everytime, product is delivered on-time everytime, and quality standards are met everytime.
Third, the business leader must be an effective communicator. In a perfect world with perfect employees a business leader's job would be very simple if all they had to do was tell someone to do something and expect it to get done, and it does. Since that's not the case a business leader must clearly communicate how things get done. They need to have the responsibilities of the position defined as well as how a person will be held accountable. They need to provide the training necessary to teach the person to meet the expectations of the position. They need to inspect what they expect frequently until the employee has proven they have mastered the job.
As the business leader, now that you have a team in place, your business cycle should look more like this: Leader, Team, Customers, Business. As the leader you focus more effort on the team, the team focuses their efforts on the customers, customers purchase from and take care of the business, and the business takes care of the leader.
When the business leader makes the team their priority they remove themselves as the most irreplaceable asset of the business. A team working the business systems, providing consistent service to customers, who keep coming back to buy again and again, allows the business to work even when the leader is not.
About the Author
Asa Beavers is a small business coach and consultant. He shares tips, techniques and strategies with smalll business owners to boost clarity and focus, create strategic action plans, and increase sales and profits. Visit his website at www.redlinebsg.com, email Asa at asa@redlinebsg.com, or call 919-367-0790.