Working On vs. Working In Your Business
There is certainly a long struggle with small business ownership. Traditionally, the small business owner became Employee #1. As such, he became extremely busy and was said to be working "in" his business, like an employee, not "on" his business, like an owner. He didn't strategize, do external marketing, network - he was too busy working!
I ran across a great blog which describes this problem in great detail. John Wyckoff, in 2005, wrote this article and it recently won a best blog contest on entrepreneurship. Some excerpts:
"All too often the boss spends much of his or her time fighting fires. Rather than an owner working on the business they have become crisis managers. Many sit in their offices and wait for someone to come through the door with a problem that needs attention or resolution — now.
Through it all, the store keeps on running. Sales continue to be made, orders for inventory are placed; each department does its tasks. The employees know what to do on a day-to-day basis. So far there seems to be no reason to change the situation. However, there is also no leverage, no long term planning, no continuing education and the owner is getting little input other than from staff members. And most of that is negative."
John talks about the owner as problem solver. That is NOT his job! Empowered employees solve problems; harried owners are those who refuse to give up control for employees to work things out themselves. Mr Wyckoff goes on to say:
"Some dealers have discovered that once they give their subordinates more latitude to make critical decisions those staff members rise to the occasion and become better managers themselves.
Will they make mistakes? Count on it. People don’t learn by doing repetitive work. They learn by making judgment calls that are not always right. They learn by being given the authority and responsibility to do a better job. As an owner it is your responsibility to mentor and coach your managers and have them do the same for those who report to them."
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I ran across a great blog which describes this problem in great detail. John Wyckoff, in 2005, wrote this article and it recently won a best blog contest on entrepreneurship. Some excerpts:
"All too often the boss spends much of his or her time fighting fires. Rather than an owner working on the business they have become crisis managers. Many sit in their offices and wait for someone to come through the door with a problem that needs attention or resolution — now.
Most
owners seem to be pretty good at handling crisis problems. Some even
call them “opportunities.” The reality is that the owner has trained
his employees to bring all problems that need immediate attention to
them. This, of course, takes the responsibility away from the staff and
puts it squarely on the owner’s shoulders. I see extreme examples when
a store is being remodeled or expanded. The owner then becomes the
construction foreman, the architect, the designer and the one who knows
where all the materials can be found.
Through it all, the store keeps on running. Sales continue to be made, orders for inventory are placed; each department does its tasks. The employees know what to do on a day-to-day basis. So far there seems to be no reason to change the situation. However, there is also no leverage, no long term planning, no continuing education and the owner is getting little input other than from staff members. And most of that is negative."
John talks about the owner as problem solver. That is NOT his job! Empowered employees solve problems; harried owners are those who refuse to give up control for employees to work things out themselves. Mr Wyckoff goes on to say:
"Some dealers have discovered that once they give their subordinates more latitude to make critical decisions those staff members rise to the occasion and become better managers themselves.
Will they make mistakes? Count on it. People don’t learn by doing repetitive work. They learn by making judgment calls that are not always right. They learn by being given the authority and responsibility to do a better job. As an owner it is your responsibility to mentor and coach your managers and have them do the same for those who report to them."
If you want to hang on to every decision, welcome to ownership hell! Give it up, folks. Empower those you've trusted as your employees. It will make your life better and them better employees and managers.
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