Someone who owns a business vs a business owner
I’ll be honest: in the past, I haven’t always made great decisions in my biz. I try, fail, adjust and then do better. That’s my way.
Aka sometimes I'm behaving like a “real” business owner and sometimes I’m acting like someone who just so happens to own a business.
You know what I mean…
I’m sure there are people in your world (or maybe even you) who have made some head-scratching moves in the past.
And what happens when you behave more like someone who just happens to own a business instead of a business owner?
Well, I can almost guarantee that you’ll:
waste your time/energy on hiring the wrong team members,
invest in expansion projects willy-nilly and,
your team will start wondering WTH is going on…
So let's not do that.. let's try something different.
Today, let’s talk about how you (and I) can go from acting like someone who just so happens to own a business to becoming a business owner.
Example #1
Someone who owns a business
You hire someone who looks good on paper, but you don’t do the legwork to talk to references and test for technical aptitude before sending an employment contract because they just feel like such a great fit (I’ve done this…….). You end up with someone who can’t navigate basic software on day 1 of their time with you.
Business owner
You take your time throughout the hiring process. You recognize that good hiring practices include a well-thought-out job description/ad, screening and ranking of candidates, video interview submissions, and then final interviews. You expect a good hire will take approx 3 - 4 weeks to attract, screen and hire. You are patient and you end up hiring a unicorn.
Example #2
Someone who owns a business
You have an investment opportunity in front of you: it is shiny and fun and you consider yourself a ‘serial entrepreneur’ so you’re all kinds of excited. Yay!
You invest time, energy and money in this opportunity without running the numbers or considering if this line of biz will cannibalize the profit margins of your other lines of biz. In one year’s time, you realize you can’t sustain both lines of business as your CPA says your margins went from 31% to 6% so now your shareholder loan account is wayyyyy overdrawn.
Business owner
You see a cool investment opportunity and ask yourself some hard alignment questions. When you realize this opportunity is something that is outside your “zone of genius”, you get curious. You ask a trusted advisor if you have the profit margin to hire a manager for the new line of biz for 2-3 years. She helps you make a plan to increase higher-margin services in your original line of biz to make it through this crucial time period for the new line of biz. You follow her advice and both lines of biz flourish.
None of us is perfect, friend. But I hope these examples will help you see that - even if you’ve made some wrong moves in the past - there is hope for the future.
You (and I) can always make a change and do better.
That's all I have for you today.
Take care and talk soon,
Tanya