When I first started thinking about President’s Day this year, I thought it would be helpful to blog about being an effective business leader.
Whenever you start a company, you have the right to be the president. After all, it is your company. It was your idea, your seed capital, your contacts that got the business off the ground, but is that the best idea for your business? There may come a time in your business when you realize that perhaps you are not the right person to lead the charge anymore. It takes a true leader to recognize that, and more so to do something about it. Are you a big enough leader to put your ego aside and do what’s in the best interest of the business? Here are five signs to look for when its time to bring in help to run the business.
Chronic burnout — If you are stressed out just thinking about going into the office, try going on a real vacation first. If the condition persists, start looking to see if anyone on your staff has the skills to be elevated to management. If that is not an option, start searching for an appropriate manager to hire in your business.
Growing pains — If you started with one location and now you have four locations and 50 or more employees, you are now running a much bigger business than what you started. You have no time to be proactive or strategic about anything, because you always reacting to things and putting out fires. You feel breathless at the end of each day. Your business has grown beyond your personal skill set.
Uneducated — Now, I’m certainly not one that believes everyone who starts a business needs to be an MBA (I’m not one), but knowledge is power. If the last time you took a class was high school or even 10 to 25 years in college, you need to update your business skills. Since the beginning of the great recession in 2008, the nature of business has changed. Your industry has probably changed, and technology has changed that way we all do business. Get yourself some education and hire some educated managers to help you. Professional development is a key element of business success.
Is selling an option? — If one day you want to sell your business, than you must get yourself in a position where your business runs without you. You must have systems and managers in place who run the day-to-day operations. When you accomplish this you will transition from being an entrepreneur to running a business, and that’s what you want. Entrepreneurs work 14-16 hours days and can never can leave the office. People who run businesses can go on vacation, get the little league game, and sleep well at night.
Have an honest conversation with yourself. Are you still the right person to be calling all the shots in your business? Hiring a business manager is not a dirty word. It is exhausting to make all the decisions in a small business. Hire smart people and empower them to make decisions and help you run your business.
Did this piece hit a pain point for you? Please tell him if this issue is affecting your business.
For more tips on how start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com.
Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as SmallBizLady is one of America’s leading small business experts. As a seasoned 
entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach, she develops audio, video and written content to fulfill her mission to end small business failure. As CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. Forbes Magazine named her #1 woman for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. She hosts #SmallBizChat Wednesdays on Twitter 8-9pm ET for emerging entrepreneurs. She also publishes a resource blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com Melinda is also bestseller author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works.
Very important points to consider, Melinda. Unfortunately, I find SMBs don’t want to relinquish the title because it is “their baby.” But we need to counsel them about what is best for their company. Your points help with that discussion. Thanks!