Entrepreneurs start businesses to create greater freedom, wealth and happiness — to exert more control over their destiny. They dream of achieving professional, personal and financial success and independence and, as a result, travel, relax, give back and simply enjoy their lives.
For many entrepreneurs, these aspirations remain a dream because they lack the mindset, people and processes to make them a reality. Several key factors make it difficult for owners to run their businesses without their constant presence. Understanding these factors and making necessary adjustments will position entrepreneurs to realize their dreams.
The business lacks structure, processes and a system of practical procedures. To achieve goals and create the freedom you desire, it’s imperative to put in place a system of simple and effective processes and standard operating procedures to deal with the situations that inevitably arise. Business owners are often surprised and always delighted to discover how easy these systems are to create and how appreciated and liberating they are for everyone involved.
The owner is the only team member who can handle all aspects of the business. If you’ve created a situation in which you’re the only one who can run your business, you’re tied to daily operations by necessity. Your success here lies in hiring individuals with positive attitudes, who care and are competent and then providing them with high quality professional development so they can excel.
The owner micromanages and fears giving up control. If you believe no one else will run your business the way you do, you’re right. You’re unique and so is your perspective of your business. Still, there are others who could do an excellent, if not an even better, job than you. Relinquishing control appropriately can be learned and becomes easier once competent team members, effective delegation and trust are in place.
The owner hasn’t mastered the art of delegation or realized the value of empowering the team. Learning to delegate tasks and projects to team members is liberating for you and empowering for them. There are crucial components to effective delegation at which owners must become proficient. Every business owner I coach is amazed at the freedom they gain, the ownership their team members take on and how much smoother their business runs once strategic delegation is implemented.
Managers aren’t competent enough to run the business. A powerful component of delegation is it enables business owners to discover who’s capable of taking on the job and who’s not. If you already have a manager or managers in place and through planned and effective delegation and careful observation you discover they’re incapable of running day-to-day operations effectively, you have two choices. Develop them or replace them.
Owners haven’t built a team that can effectively run operations in their absence. The fear of releasing oversight of day-to-day operations can be overcome by building a team that can actually run the business — and run it well — without the owner’s constant presence. When the success of your business depends solely upon you, you trap yourself into a job. Conversely, when you build a competent team and the responsibility for the success of the business is spread out through a team approach, everyone benefits, including the owner.
While there’s a lot to consider in developing successful hands-off leadership, qualified business coaching and training can help make the thriving business of your dreams come true. As you adopt a more powerful mindset, hire potential leaders, offer quality professional development to those who are willing to excel, let go of those who aren’t and offer team members ongoing assistance in developing their potential, your dreams of greater success, freedom and happiness will be realized.
Countless businesses thrive under the day-to-day leadership of managers and competent team members even as the owners provide general oversight, direction and new ideas. You too, can enjoy this reality as you release your fears and build a powerful team that can handle daily operations.
