Owning your own business can be overwhelming because of the number of “hats” you have to wear. Someone not only has to do the technical work of the business, but someone has to market, someone has to go on sales calls, someone has to do the bookkeeping, someone has to order supplies, someone has to fix the equipment, and the list goes on.
If you are a larger company and you have people actually doing some of these things, you are most likely overwhelmed as you try to manage them and end up being involved in many things that you don’t want to be involved in (and probably shouldn’t be).
You are involved in too many areas because you haven’t learned the skill of leadership and systems. How do you ever get past this? You need a vision. A road map—a clear picture of the business. A great tool is an organizational chart.
An organizational chart for most companies looks like this:
No wonder you’re overwhelmed! You’re in every box!
So how do you get organized? You begin by understanding the 12 vital functions of the business. Every one of these functions is vital to becoming phenomenally successful in your business. And if you want a turnkey business, all of them are absolutely crucial.
Does someone have to plan the business to be more successful? You bet. That’s the role of the person I call the Director. Does someone have to manage the business? Absolutely. Someone must make sure that all of the things that are supposed to happen actually get implemented. I call that person the Manager.
And, of course, someone has to actually do the work of the business. The good news is that it doesn’t always have to be you. And men, your wife is not the only one who can answer the phone and do the books. She needs a life, too.
Understanding the three levels of leadership (directing, managing, and doing) gives you a picture of how to separate and organize the major functions. Then there are what I call the Four Pillars of a Phenomenally Successful Business: Marketing (everything you do to attract prospects to your business), Sales (everything you do to convert the prospect into paying customer), Operations (everything you do to service your client), and Administration (everything you do to track results).