Many business owners will not admit that they don’t know it all, they can’t do it all or that they’re drowning. It’s understandable because they’re independent by nature; they’ve chosen to break free and take control of their work life. I’ll be the first to admit, this describes me to a tee. The down side to the “can do, must do” attitude is that we often end up swamped; working extra hours and missing out on the valuable freedom we thought we were getting into. This doesn’t have to happen.
Have a plan to ensure you don’t get into a situation where you’re drowning or not serving your customers properly. I suggest that you put this plan for managing growth into your business plan and review it regularly. A few things to consider are: your processes, when and how you’ll bring on help as well as business continuity. The best time to create this plan is at the start of your business but it really can be done anytime. The trick is to create the plan before you need it.
Think through your flow of work, from administration to customer retention. Naturally there can be deviations from your usual processes but if you can cover 80% of your work by following one tried and true process, you’ll have peace of mind knowing what your next step is and you’ll have the capacity to easily handle the other 20% of the work. Having written processes in place will make most of your work flow smoothly and it will be much easier to train people when you finally do start hiring.
As you worked through your business plan, you likely noticed a few stages where you’ll need help. This assistance can come in the form of permanent employees, contractors or retained professionals. You may not be able to plan the date you’ll begin hiring but if you’ve identified the triggers, you’re more likely to see the need coming. You’ll be able to begin hiring without the stress of scrambling to find someone. Looking ahead can also prevent you from settling for someone less qualified due to time constraints.
What would happen to your business if you fell ill or otherwise couldn’t attend to it? Wouldn’t it be scary looking for a doctor or dentist when you’re in pain? Take time to build trusted relationships with professionals before you need their help. As you do you’ll learn who you can trust and what their true strengths are. If you’ve taken the time to build a strong relationship with someone they’ll be more likely to pitch in when you really need them. Building your network will also help you with your hiring needs; almost everyone knows someone looking for work.
We don’t have to do this on our own and we don’t have to sacrifice our lives to work for ourselves. In the coming months I’ll expand on these thoughts and show you practical ways to ease the pressure of independence.
— Carol Glover
To find out more about FireHorse Consulting Inc., please visit our web site: http://www.firehorseinc.ca/
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