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So You Call Yourself a Business Owner, Huh?

Ask anyone who runs a small business, “So, what do you do?” most of the time they will say “I’m a business owner,” this may be right, but what exactly does it mean? “Business owner” is a title, not a job description. In order to run a successful business you need to have job descriptions and duties clearly outlined and defined for all of your employees, including yourself.

It’s very easy for a business owner to fall into one of two bad behaviors. First you could be extremely hands-on and micromanage. Here your time is wasted on tasks that were originally delegated to subordinates. The second behavior that is easy for small business owners’ to fall into is constantly managing administrative duties. Both of these behaviors seem right, but they are traps, they don’t allow you to spend time improving your core business or your bottom line.

One of the most useful internal assessments you can do for your business is to write a detailed job description for each employee on your payroll; from the intern all the way up to you, the business owner. This provides you with a written description of what every employee that works for you is doing and how they are managing their individual responsibilities. By listing your individual employees’ responsibilities you are holding them accountable for their work. This paves the way for a streamlined and organized work flow, rather than a staff of employees who have their hands in thirty different projects that leaves you unaware of who is doing what. Most importantly, by defining who is supposed to be doing what, you can see which employees are not living up to your expectations and which employees are excelling and worthy of praise and positive reinforcement.

Here’s an experiment to try: log all of your activities that you do for work in a journal and keep it accurate down to the minute. At the end of the week look at how much time you spend doing tasks that could be feasibly delegated to your employees. You will be amazed how much of your time you spend answering general inquiries and doing administrative tasks. Create a, “stop wasting my time with these duties” list, and whenever a trivial or clerical task that is on your list comes up, delegate it to one of your subordinates so you have time to focus on your core responsibilities as a business owner. There are a million different things going on for a small business at any given time anytime, and as a business owner it is all too easy to get caught up in those small picture goals. As your business expands, and you hire more people to delegate your work to, it is important to actually let your subordinates do their job with some independence, and not micro-manage their duties that once fell on to your shoulders.

The next part is the hardest: writing out your job description. Once you have stopped wasting your time on day-to-day administrative duties it is your job to take on the big picture goals you want your company to achieve. You must outline, implement and follow a strategy to improve the bottom line of your business. While executing your strategy for growth and increased revenue, you may need to hire new employees. As a business owner it is your job to seek out the right candidates for the job, educate them in the ways of your company and its culture and help mold them into ideal members of your workforce. Finally, being the owner of your business makes you the public face of your company, meaning you are integral when it comes to business development and acquiring new clients.

Even though a lot of business owner’s consider this the least favorite part of their job it is critical to stay current and aware of the internal culture of the company and the public image your business projects. Your business culture communicates more about your business than the words that you say; cultivating it is critical to your success.

By moving away from a clerical and administrative role you are freeing yourself up to improve your business and focus on your business strategy, insuring your company grows both in size and bottom line.