As a small-business owner, I”™m having trouble focusing and am questioning the company”™s future. We”™ve been through a lot in the last couple of years. I feel stuck. Any advice?
Most business owners are too wrapped up in the business”™s day-to-day operations. They lack focus and resources. The owner can wind up feeling all alone, wondering if the opportunities of ownership are worth the risks.
It”™s time for a change. Let”™s start with habits. The brain operates using well-worn neural pathways. Changing those pathways takes intention, focus and practice.
It”™s now time to change the company”™s habits to meet future demands. Cut-backs, retrenching and defending the core business are old habits. As the economy turns up, it”™s time to forecast growth, define ways to achieve increasing levels of profitability and initiate steps that will lead to expanding the core.
Getting to the essentials
A business owner”™s No. 1 job is to identify and attend to the business”™s future. Rarely does an owner achieve clarity about “What”™s essential?” by running around the shop floor, or playing cleanup when problems crop up. It takes planning and thinking time ”“ of which most business owners don”™t get enough.
Set aside time to look forward. Answer the question, “What will best serve and help the business short and long term?” Go through “The 5 Sisters” checklist: finance, sales, operations, marketing and human resources. Identify mid- and long-terms goals for each area of the business. Sketch out milestones that guide and measure the company”™s top-line progress.
Lay out a plan to involve everyone in the company. Once owners get focused on moving forward, they tend to go it too much alone. They depend on employees to take care of the status quo, while they, as owners, get to work charting a new path. In fact, while the owner must point out the direction in which the company is heading, employees can play an extremely valuable role in clearing obstacles and building momentum.
Get employees on board with the new direction. Over and over I hear business owners say, “My employees just don”™t understand, they don”™t get it.” Or, “Employees have too much on their plates already.” Instead, try asking, “What else can I do to help my employees identify with where we”™re going?” “How can I involve people in moving the company forward?”
The next steps
Here”™s a series of action steps that can help get things moving in the right direction:
- Tell employees where the company is going, sharing overall company goals and milestones using The 5 Sisters checklist.
- Ask employees to write down what they can contribute to achieving those goals.
- Work with employees to brainstorm departmental milestones consistent with the company”™s overall direction and objectives.
- Publish results vs. milestones, post reports where everyone can see how things are (or are not) progressing.
- Meet weekly ”“ sometimes daily ”“ with employees to facilitate discussion of what”™s working, what needs fixing and what actions to take next.
- Ask employees to practice teamwork as they seek to achieve the departmental- and company-wide milestones and goals.
- Encourage debate, without letting it get overpowering; insist that criticism be focused on issues, rather than personal differences.
- Step back from implementation, allowing employees and teams to take hold in their own way, learning from their mistakes as well as their successes.
- Ask teams to clarify roles and responsibilities, defining who is accountable for what.
- Focus everyone on solving problems, freeing up time for the owner to think longer term.
- Focus on changing behaviors across the company. Shift from reactive to proactive through practice. Build new habits that drive the company forward.
As owner, think about your own support structure. How do you stay on track? Who encourages you? Where do you go for feedback and insight?
Looking for a good book? Try “The 51 Fatal Business Errors and How to Avoid Them,” by Jim Muehlhausen.
Andi Gray is president of Strategy Leaders Inc., www.StrategyLeaders.com, a business consulting firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurial firms grow. Questions may be emailed to her at AskAndi@StrategyLeaders.com or mailed to Andi Gray, Strategy Leaders Inc., 5 Crossways, Chappaqua, NY 10514. Phone: 877-238-3535. Visit www.AskAndi.com for archived Ask Andi articles.
