Think Like The Boss, Not Like A Salesperson
When was the last time your dentist cleaned your teeth? Probably never. Because that’s the hygienist’s job.
Your business is no different. Being the boss is not the same as doing everything. Good bosses delegate. For example, Erin does not personally oversee any client accounts. She leaves the day-to-day operations to her staff so that she can focus on growing the business and other essential CEO tasks.
To figure out if you’re doing too much, ask yourself this question: If you took a 30-day vacation, what would happen to your business? If your business would stop, then you ARE your business, and that’s not a good thing.
Create Systems That Facilitate Success
Your business really relies on one trusted employee who keeps everything running. She can do everything from fulfill orders to organize birthday cards for all your clients. She basically carries all your company’s key operations around in her head and executes everything perfectly.
And then her husband gets seriously ill and she’s out of the office for four months.
That’s what happened at Erin’s first company. When that key employee had to take a leave of absence, the business stalled. It’s important to have employees you can rely on, but it’s just as important to have systems in place that underlie all of your company’s activities. People change jobs, people go on vacation, people catch the flu on busy days. Having a good system in place keeps business moving.
Leverage Your Team
Once you know what you want to build, you have to put a team in place that will help you do the work. Erin takes great care to hire the best people, using Kolbe assessments and thorough face-to-face interviews. But she also makes sure she isn’t hiring people whose strengths are too much like her own. A strong workplace has a diverse talent set at its disposal. Thorough follow-up training gets all of Erin’s employees up to speed on the key systems that drive the business.