The lineage of the small to mid-sized business owner certainly includes a lot of differences, socioeconomic backgrounds and personality profiles to be sure. There is however far more that we have in common than one might imagine. The first one we will talk about is what we will refer to as “the fire in the belly”. It is the one thing that separates us from everyone else on the planet. There is a pretty good chance that mediocrity is not in your vocabulary. You very likely are a person, male or female; with what may be described as an “extreme work ethic” and you may tend to have little patience with those that don’t share your point of view on the subject.
Incidentally and without getting into too much detail here, there are a number of scientific studies out there which tend to support the conclusion that women business owners have a decided advantage over their male counterparts. This has to do with the fact that women can transition from one side of the brain (left brain, right brain) to the other much faster than their male counterparts.
When you started your business you probably did so by yourself or with one or two other people, at least in the beginning. You probably had a wealth of experience in whatever your base vocation was and likely as not had, a “boat load of common sense.” You might have even been the best technician, engineer, plumber, electrician, sales person, architect or any other discipline and then you got the bright idea, hey! I can start my own company! And here you are! You had a lot of “shoulders down” background and experience and either felt your common sense or your sum total of experience was all you needed to be successful and you probably didn’t give much thought to the “neck up” component that would also be required. We will refer to this “neck up” skill set as; the technicals of how to operate “this particular business” for maximum profit, maximum ease of operation.
We have seen the formal education levels of successful business owners run the gamut from didn’t finish high school to multiple master’s degrees.
Your business may have grown both in terms of revenue and number of employees to the point where it is no longer possible for you to “keep your arms wrapped around it”. Starting a business and operating a business for maximum profit, maximum ease of operation are two very different issues. One is obviously much easier than the other and is to a large degree responsible for the statistically high business failure rate within the first five years. There probably isn’t anyone alive that knows more about the “shoulders down” portion of your business than you do! That knowledge will continue to serve you well. We hear often from business owners “what I know does a good job for me; it’s what I apparently don’t know that’s hurting me.”
If you are in your office late at night or you are there over the weekend instead of being at home with your family then perhaps you should give some consideration to ascertaining your spending that time in the business is necessary and implement the necessary steps to correct the problem. Are you running your business or is it running you?
Your business may actually be doing very well and if that is the case then once again “kudos” to you. If that is not the case then perhaps you should investigate getting an update on the “neck up” skill set particularly if your formal business education has become dated.
Read more from Behind the Desk here.
At Cogent Analytics, we never stop looking for ways to improve your business and neither should you. So, check out some of our other posts for helpful business information:
