Is Your Business Running You?

• Do you feel you are not making enough money for the long hours you put in?
• Do you feel trapped by your business because you can't depend upon your employees?
• Do things come to a stop when you are not there?
• Is the pressure of your daily workload starting to have a damaging effect on your health, family relationships and overall enjoyment of life?

Many business owners in this position realize that if they carry on in the same way, they will continue to get the same results, but only with worsening consequences. They come to a point where they think: there has GOT to be a better way.This situation is normal for the business owner who understands the technical work of his business, but does not have all of the business skills needed to operate successfully. There is a fundamental difference between the two skill sets.
This lack of business expertise means that the business owner often wears too many hats and performs too many functions. She is constantly under pressure from many sources including constant interruptions, deadlines, lack of support, lack of communication and poorly performing staff. The business is running her rather than the other way around.
Fortunately, there is a better way.
If the business owner was to change the way she thinks about her business - a beneficial chain of events would occur. The simple truth is that if a business owner wants the business to change, she has to change first. When we change the way we are and the way we think, the business automatically follows because - we do things differently - when we start to think differently.
One way to think differently is to understand the concept that Michael Gerber teaches in his book 'the E-Myth Revisited.'
According to Gerber, in the best businesses - systems operate the business and people operate the systems. What this means is that the business owner does not need the most talented people to have a successful business. And the business no longer depends upon the owner. Often, a business is organised around the owner and existing staff rather than the business processes, which leads to inconsistent performance and creates havoc when the owner is not there or when a staff member leaves.
What many business owners could benefit from doing is to be willing to:
1) start the business all over again from the very beginning, and
2) create order in the business - put the systems in place - that will allow the business to grow and free the owner from the daily work-load.
This is simple to say, but not easy to do alone and unsupported. Which is why smart business owners find mentors, take courses, join local and online business groups, or hire a coach.

(c) Copyright - Stephen Addison. All rights reserved.