The hats you need to wear

Robert Gerrish

Within every business is a mass of differing tasks and responsibilities. To those who succeed in building a strong small business, these tasks offer variety and often add to the overall enjoyment of running your own ship. After all, how can you get bored when your work is constantly changing?

You may be a fine electrician, but what are you like at talking to people and building relationships?

Perhaps you have a good understanding of finance, but how are you at managing your files and controlling a database?

While the failure rate of small business is often exaggerated, researchers and business commentators are unanimous in their agreement that it’s far higher than it should be.

The failure of many small businesses, especially those in the early years of their existence, is not necessarily due to some spectacular financial ruin.

Instead many choose to exit their business as a consequence of overwhelm and fatigue. Things just get too hard. Too much work. Too many hours.

The main cause of this destructive situation is a lack of understanding at the outset regarding what is really involved in starting, building and running a small business.

In no situation is this more challenging than in the one-person business.

Running a business by yourself really can mean you will be doing everything, at least until you learn to outsource and delegate selected tasks to others.

It may appear to be wonderfully freeing. Being the master of your own destiny. Answering to no one. And it can be! But you need to recognise what to take on yourself, and what to get help with.

Working on your own doesn’t mean you cannot get help. Today large networks of ‘freelancers’ exist to help with bookkeeping, administration, message taking and the like.

But initially at least, it will be you doing the work and frankly that’s probably how it should be. You need to understand tasks before you can expect others to undertake them for you, otherwise how will you know they are being done properly? This is YOUR business, remember.

If there’s one book within the world of small business that is widely acknowledged as ‘The Bible’ that can help us better understand the key roles you need to play, it’s surely The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It.

The book was written in 1995 by American author, Michael E. Gerber.

In the book, Gerber cites what he considers are the three competing personalities that necessarily, reside within all successful small businesses.

In Gerber’s opinion – and gauging by the book’s popularity, the opinion of many others - it’s necessary to both understand and embrace these roles if you are to succeed.

You may recognise elements of each within you already, or you may come to realise that you have a weakness in one or more areas.

The personalities or roles that Gerber describes are, The Entrepreneur, The Manager and The Technician.

At the outset, many starting a small business have skills weighted heavily in one, or at best two, of these characteristics. As you move forward in business it becomes more critical to improve performance in the other areas.

So where are you strong and conversely, where do you need to upskill?

 

More advice

• Read more practical advice on growing a business.

 

• Important information
  As this advice has been prepared without considering your objectives, financial situation or needs, you should, before acting on the advice, consider its appropriateness to your circumstances. Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN 48 123 123 124.