Some Barriers Holding Back Small Business Owners from Scaling Their Companies (From our Dec 2018 Newsletter)
Barrier #1: “The Stacked Deck”
Most business owners charge too little relative to their real costs. In the case in which an owner is the company’s primary sales person or is part of a smaller sales group, customers expect them to personally be involved in fulfilling the customers product or services or, at the very least, actively oversee those customers’ production or fulfillment.
In these cases your business has become a treadmill. What’s worse is that the more you work, the more your business comes to rely on your personal production. And with increased sales, you take on more overhead, which in turn locks you into needing to personally get more involved. Is it any wonder that it’s so hard to imagine scaling your company? After all, you say, you simply don’t have more hours to work.
Barrier #2: “The Competency Trap”
So… you are very good at what you do, perhaps even the most competent person in your company; but now, that very competency works against you in the context of scaling your business. It is difficult to let other people handle tasks that you know you can perform better. You may very well find it excruciating to watch a member of your staff complete something sub-par to your expectations. You may feel constantly compelled to step in and handle any and every little job in order to make sure it’s executed properly; but the more you do, the more you have to keep doing. This leads directly to the next barrier…
Barrier #3: “Controlitis”
“If I want something done right, I’ve got to do it myself.” Recognize that these just might be the most expensive words that any business owner can say.
Recognize the high price you are paying for your urge to control every detail of your business. Not to abdicate responsibility totally but rather build on a stable base of sound business systems, a talented and well-trained team, and a culture that helps ensure proper handling of any situation. This base is critical if you want to scale. Scaling requires you to grow your ability to intelligently delegate functional responsibility, not just handing off tasks to be done.
Barrier #4: “Lack of Business Training”
If you have not had formal business training, you likely pick things up on the fly. This is not a bad thing and very rewarding. You learnt to read your financials, sell your products or services, hire and manage employees, budget and plan, all based on trial and error. Has this been a time consuming barrier though?
Here are three simple suggestions to help move past these barriers:
- Begin with choosing one or two functions and delegate and/or train an employee to take responsibility for this area of the company. For example, train employee A to be responsible for new employees; employee B to handle the scheduling; employee C to handle all purchasing under a certain dollar value each month.
- Monitoryour own language and behavior. Whenever you hear yourself saying,whether out loud or just in your own head, “no one can do this as well as Ido”, or “it’s too much of a hassle to get someone else to do this; I will do itmyself”, be aware that you are firmly rooting yourself in having to workharder and harder for your business. This stunts its ability to grow and scale.
- Read one business book each quarter. If you don’t like to read, then listen to the audio book. No excuses… one book a quarter. This is you investing in your business education. Based on and article by David Finkel Score contributor