Are you working ON your Business or IN your business

[TheRestaurantMarketer]

Hi Gang

There's a sandwich shop I sometimes go to in London which has a nice owner I like to chat to. However, one thing I noticed was she often works behind the till, while taking phone calls from suppliers, family members and whoever else calls.

Now, she probably feels like she is saving her business money because is not paying a member of staff to manage the till. However, as she is effectively and employee of her own company, she doesn't have any time to look for ways to drum up extra business. On top of that, I personally find it a bit rude if somebody is serving me while on the phone.

As a business owner, your time should be spent promoting your business. It could be looking to do joint ventures with other business owners, looking into places where you can advertise, running online marketing campaigns, going to networking events...and the list goes on.

A few years ago I ran a web design business, but was essentially doing all the work myself because I didn't trust others to do the work. Only when I started to delegate work (and outsource) did I realise I didn't have to work my fingers to the bone when instead I could concentrate on running the business rather than in it.

I would like to hear your thoughts, do you feel like an employee of your own business? Do you work all hours God sends but feel like you are treading water???

Cheers,
Phil

 

[Mpg]

When I started I was IN and ON
Now I'm more ON

with the occasional IN.:|

It was counterproductive for me. Spending 8 hrs on the road and then having to do all the other roles that go with running a business (like spending hours on UKBF)

We've been offered a major opportunity to jump 2-3 yrs down the road in a very short period of time so I really need to working ON my business not IN it.
At the moment I'm working 8am until 1am but as we run 20hrs per day I'm available all the time

I think its a case of being honest with yourself. Work to your strengths. If your good on the till but crap with management get a manger in.

 

[CKG]

Just finished reading the E Myth have you?

 

[TheRestaurantMarketer]

When I started I was IN and ON
Now I'm more ON

with the occasional IN.:|

It was counterproductive for me. Spending 8 hrs on the road and then having to do all the other roles that go with running a business (like spending hours on UKBF)

Hey, glad to hear it. Also, I'm happy to see somebody replying with a decent post. There seems to be a lot of people on here who post two word replies, like "I'm interested". Not sure what the point of that is ;-)

Anyway, back to the point, I bet you are much happier now that you are working ON your business.

Cheers
Phil

 

[TheRestaurantMarketer]

Just finished reading the E Myth have you?

Shamefully, I still haven't read it but a friend lent it to me a while ago, I keep hearing very good things about it so I really must get around to reading it soon. Did you enjoy it?

 

[RaySB]

I think any business owner will surely have some form of working IN the business at various times. However it is of course only the business owner that can work ON the business.

Personally, I am without a doubt doing both. I find working IN the business keeps me up to date with our industry, which is a necessity for guiding and managing others (how can I teach others if I don't know the issues myself).

Also helps to get your hands dirty every now and again to motivate staff in showing that you aren't just sitting on your arse all day, and that you are part of the team (albeit their boss).

 

[conkertree]

Treading water is exactly how I feel just now. I make products, but am starting to think it might be better to pay someone else to make them, while I concentrate on building the business. It's a nice idea to be able to do it all, but business planning/development always comes second to fulfilling orders, so growth is very slow. I just don't make enough money yet to pay someone else, so its a bit of a vicious cycle.

 

[goodguy]

I am in the same position as most of you guys, spent alot of time and money setting up the business, only to have to spend more money to grow the business or do it myself and save money. When you know the customers and business more than your staff.
I came to conclusation, if I don't do it now, then when or just hope on it growing by itself, or put it another way.
Is it better to try and go out in a blaze of glory or die with a 1,000 cuts, and wasted years.

 

[Colin Smith CBP]

I think any business owner will surely have some form of working IN the business at various times. However it is of course only the business owner that can work ON the business.

Personally, I am without a doubt doing both. I find working IN the business keeps me up to date with our industry, which is a necessity for guiding and managing others (how can I teach others if I don't know the issues myself).

Also helps to get your hands dirty every now and again to motivate staff in showing that you aren't just sitting on your arse all day, and that you are part of the team (albeit their boss).

Couldn't agree more. In my opinion, you will never see the full fruits of your work on the business if you neglect to work in it.

There is obviously a balance that must be struck here. We should work on developing/improving the core processes for our business but at some point you reach the point of diminishing returns and it becomes more important to drive performance within those processes. This requires leadership and real leadership in a business happens as the business owner stands shoulder to shoulder with his team modelling the behaviour they want others to emulate. It simply doesn't happen if they are sat at a computer fiddling with flow charts or spreadsheets.

 

[garyk]

The e-myth is more than just about the 'on rather than in' mantra that any marketing person will recite. Its about 'systems' and 'procedures' so that you can either effectively delegate tasks or in the book cover the franchise model and why only a tiny amount of franchises are successful.

Gary

 

[Mpg]

The e-myth is more than just about the 'on rather than in' mantra that any marketing person will recite. Its about 'systems' and 'procedures' so that you can either effectively delegate tasks or in the book cover the franchise model and why only a tiny amount of franchises are successful.

Gary

Is it worth a read then.

I'm usually automatically put off when something is written for the US. And I probably naively think it wont be relevant for our shores

 

[Richie N]

You can still work in your business and do the above...

 

[Colin Smith CBP]

Is it worth a read then?

I'm usually automatically put off when something is written for the US. And I probably naively think it wont be relevant for our shores

The E-Myth does an excellent job of describing a common problem, but a terrible job of describing the solution. The second part of the book is essentially an extended advertisement for the consulting services of Michael Gerber's company. The solution for the problem (set up your business as if you were about to franchise the business out to another) is totally out of proportion to the problem.

I am a Lean Six Sigma black belt and work every day with process improvement in small businesses so I don't need to be sold on the importance of optimising systems and processes within a business. What Michael Gerber describes would be beneficial to a multi million pound business but is way too much for the bakery that he uses as a parable. I don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water but if anyone on this forum has actually followed Gerber's recommendations to the letter i'd be very surprised. To do so would involve a huge investment of time (and, he hopes, money to his consulting company), but experience tells me that 20% of that effort would comfortably deliver 80% of the benefits he outlines.

If anyone is interested in affordable process and performance improvement for small business, feel free to PM me.

 

[S-Marketing]

I am a Lean Six Sigma black belt

That is really funny.

I thought you were making an ironic joke aimed at these so called Gurus, but it turns out (after a quick Google) that there are people who refer to themselves as the above, and expect to be taken seriously.


Lean six sigma black belt, whatever next

 

[Colin Smith CBP]

That is really funny.

I thought you were making an ironic joke aimed at these so called Gurus, but it turns out (after a quick Google) that there are people who refer to themselves as the above, and expect to be taken seriously.


Lean six sigma black belt, whatever next

Fair shout. It is a ridiculous name for the accreditation. It does mean something to serious business improvement practitioners, though. I assure you that six sigma methods are not as daft as the way they've chosen to make a distinction between practitioners.

Currently training as a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt! It gets worse!

 

[MASSEY]

How do you know she can afford to take on a staff member an therefore part with wages and insurances etc etc.

Most 'businesses' are small outfits that basically provide the owner with a livable wage and not much else.

 

[S-Marketing]

Fair shout. It is a ridiculous name for the accreditation. It does mean something to serious business improvement practitioners, though. I assure you that six sigma methods are not as daft as the way they've chosen to make a distinction between practitioners.

Currently training as a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt! It gets worse!

Thank you for taking my post in the light hearted spirit it was written.

I usually find myself agreeing with your posts, but find that name to be a joke. It seems to undermine the skills and knowledge you obviously have.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

When I started I was IN and ON
Now I'm more ON

with the occasional IN.:|

It was counterproductive for me. Spending 8 hrs on the road and then having to do all the other roles that go with running a business (like spending hours on UKBF)

We've been offered a major opportunity to jump 2-3 yrs down the road in a very short period of time so I really need to working ON my business not IN it.
At the moment I'm working 8am until 1am but as we run 20hrs per day I'm available all the time

I think its a case of being honest with yourself. Work to your strengths. If your good on the till but crap with management get a manger in.

I can back up MPG the best way to destroy a business is to be on the road its a nightmare and I completely hate this situation !

I don't go on the road ! Its different for an officed based owner or a workshop based owner they can down tools and go deal with something important . In a car van or truck you cant .

Your driving ,you are hours away from your place of work or where you should be you have calls coming in messages from your office things to sort out and you have to drive and it does my head in !!!

So I don't go on the road then I am able to deal with what needs to be done . I used to drive a lot and that was without a sat nav

 

[StepUp1]

I agree with you, and I also believe customer service is not only essential, but probably taken for granted by business owners. However the lady in your story might be happy with the way it's run, and at the end of the day, that should be what it's about.

 

[mikedgroup]

I have stumbled across 'UK Business Forums' from another link, I have made contributions to forums in the past but these tend to be linked to my football team, which feature high emotion but low rationality!

I have worked in and around management & leadership education and business development for the last 20 years and seen many business people start out with the best intentions to grow and develop something they are passionate about and what they know best.

The difficultly is that running a business is about Marketing, Selling, Accounting, People Management and not just about what you know and are passionate about. A previous poster mentioned that if all this stuff does not excite you then find people who can complement your skills to enable you to be in the places you need to be talking about your business.

also a lot of entrepreneurs limit the growth of their businesses because they do not trust anyone else to do things, or expect everyone else to be as excited and energised by the business as they are.

I think business owners do need to lift themselves out of the doing, but they will only do this if they are supported by others who can help and guide them to build new skills or at least have the self awareness to know that they need others to do the things they know they will never be good at or interested in.

 

[TheRestaurantMarketer]

The difficultly is that running a business is about Marketing, Selling, Accounting, People Management and not just about what you know and are passionate about. A previous poster mentioned that if all this stuff does not excite you then find people who can complement your skills to enable you to be in the places you need to be talking about your business.

You've made some great points. This is where business owners really need to think about delegation. In my business, there are certain things I like doing and others I hate. Rather than hitting my head against a brick wall, I looked to outsource the stuff I didn't like doing. One thing though, don't hire people just because they are cheap, it can end up being very costly (ironically).

Agreed, it can be hard to let go, but there comes a point where you have to delegate if you want your business to grow past a certain point.

Thanks everyone for all the interesting posts!!

Cheers
Phil