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Written by The Mobility Advocate
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Failure doesn’t just happen. It’s a conspiracy of bad decisions. Sometimes, events beyond your control impact your business adversely. After September 11, 2001, many businesses folded and others barely made it through because their livelihood flourished on the travel industry. Catastrophic events that adversely impact the daily operations of the average business don’t happen all too often. Most of the time when a business fails there’s one primary reason – the business owner.
Step One: Know your strengths and weaknesses. There are things that we all are good at and things we are really bad at. My strong points are my ability to pay attention to details while keeping an eye on the overall big picture. I worked for a boss who was really good at developing ideas and new products but was really bad at managing the daily operations of a business.
Step Two: It's not enough to just know your strengths and weaknesses, a big part of that is to focus your energy and attention on what you are good at and leave the other stuff to people who are good at those things. My boss is a controlling woman. Where ever her money is invested, she feels compelled to control in a micromanagerial way. The result of her inability to focus on her strengths and let go of the tasks she is weak at is that her businesses (and she's had many) tend to repeat a very specific pattern. She drives the talented, creative, hard-working people she's hired away and ends up running the business with her son until eventually, they sell it.
Step Three: Don't be your own worst enemy! Even Bill Gates realized that he wasn’t good at the daily operations management and hired talented people to run Microsoft. You have to be honest with yourself and follow through when you know you shouldn’t be interfering. Yes, it’s your business and you have the most to lose. But don’t ruin your own company. Just because you started it, doesn’t mean you are the best thing for your company. Maybe you are best suited for the daily operations and that’s great. But if you aren’t, LET GO! Hire suitable employees and give them the room to do their jobs.
Step Four: Don’t be pennywise and pound foolish. Look at your company’s financial statements and tailor your spending accordingly. That may sound like a no-brainer but you would be amazed at how many companies don’t pay attention to the whole financial picture. Never threaten your employee’s paycheck. That is a last resort and only if you really have to. And give them options before it gets to that – like cutting down hours.
Keeping your business successful requires commitment to the best interest of your business and your customers or clients. While your business may be your "baby," you have to cut the cord and let your business develop its own personality and style or you will suffocate it and watch as it crumbles before your eyes.
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