You
Can’t Have IT Both Ways
by Gerry Rose, Integrity Networking Solutions, Business Consultant
I just came from a
meeting with an associate. Talk about
confused. Here is a business owner that says he
and his partner want to be the business
of training, yet do not want to be in the
business of training. If this confuses
you, let me explain.
Being in the
business means that you do many if not
all aspects of the business. If you own a
plumbing business, you would do much of the
actual plumbing. You can still hire other
plumbers to work with you, however, you stay in
the “trade,” continuing to work as a plumber.
Someone who is
the business might be a salon or spa owner.
One of my Advocates is such a person. She owns
a facility that has stylists, tanning, hair
removal, sells products (hair and skin care),
and massage. Her responsibilities are running
the operation and managing its growth. She
constantly is evaluating the performance of the
independent contractors working for her, the
sales performance, and growth within the spa.
She never cuts hair, gives a massage, or leads
people to the tanning booths.
Many of us want it
both ways. We have a great idea. We want to
create a unique niche in an existing market. We
develop an idea. We then build it. We buy or
create the equipment. We establish a
storefront, developing a clientele. We grow to
a level of customers that sustain us. The bills
are barely being paid, but we continue to hope
for success. Then we get on a treadmill.
Because we no longer want to be the technician
in the business, we start to hire people to get
things done in the business. It gives us the
sense of growth, being on the path of becoming
an entrepreneur.
The biggest mistake
is sitting in our storefront waiting for someone
else to create the market for us while we pay
people to get things done that an entrepreneur
does best. The smart money is on continuing to
do those things you do best until the time is
right to make the switch. The time is right to
make the switch when the entrepreneur has
SYSTEMS in place to take over. Then the
entrepreneur can hand a working system to a new
employee/independent contractor to take over
that portion of the business. In all cases make
sure you get some form of guarantee for
performance of service.
The particular
training company that I am speaking of above has
in four years spent between $100,000 to $250,000
in marketing systems. They have plateaued at a
certain number of clients. They are stuck. Yet
now they are not willing to market themselves,
offering their unique training system. They are
sitting back with a unique concept that they
know best,
yet are not willing to get off
their behinds to get people in the storefront.
The dichotomy is
that they hire outsiders to market their
business while to save money both partners are
training again. It makes no sense. The
partners should have continued to market their
unique business until systems were in place to
allow it to sustain the growth. You cannot have
it both ways.
The kiss of death is
graduating to the level of being the
business, then going back into being in
the business. In the case I am
describing, trainers were hired to run the
business. When the business did not grow as
planned, trainers quit or were let go. The
owners became trainers again.
As a very wise
person told me, “Some of us hide behind the idea
of saying we are entrepreneurs. Others of us go
out and become entrepreneurs.” Do you want to
be a true entrepreneur? Become the business.
Get out of being in the business.
For more information
on this topic see Michael Gerber’s E-Myth
and E-Myth Mastery. Gerber makes very
strong points about the systems required to
become an entrepreneur and the roles
entrepreneurs play as they grow their
businesses. During the process we are
responsible for wearing many hats. The key
becomes when to hand off those responsibilities
to a trusted advisor/employee so that we can
be the business rather than be in the
business.
