Magazines
Success or failure of business startups depends on how effectively the
business owner implements his vision and systems before seeking help
from consultants and employees. PHOTO | FILE
By MURORI KIUNGA
In Summary
A certain lady who wanted to start a business while
working asked a business guru, "What exactly does the owner of business
do to ensure success of an enterprise?"
Share This Story
The guru replied, “The business owner does only three
things. First, they set the overall vision and strategy of the business
and communicate it to all stakeholders. Second, they recruit, hire, and
retain the very best talent for the business. And finally they make sure
there is always enough cash in the bank.”
The lady seemed not satisfied with the answer. She
wanted to hear something to do with delegation. For she wanted to get
tips on how to delegate operations of her business to an able manager
and keep her job until an opportune time.
“Where does delegation come in?” she asked the
guru. “Well, that comes only after you have performed the first three
roles personally and effectively,” the expert said.
The business guru added that all business problems
can be traced to a weakness in at least one of these three key functions
of a business owner. In essence, nothing else will work optimally in a
business if the manager fails in any of the three main roles.
Any startup business requires the touch and fine
tuning of the owner before other people can step in to further his or
her cause. Many start-up entrepreneurs make the common and costly
mistake of delegating the operation of a venture too soon even before
their vision and systems are established.
Setting the overall vision of the business is
primarily your role as a business owner. You must decide which business
you want to start, what you want to achieve and communicate it well to
stakeholders so that they can support you.
Some people with high business ambitions go to
consultants expecting miracles. They expect a total solution comprising
of exactly the kind of business to start, how to start and grow it. This
does not work in practice.
The role of a business expert is to help you refine
your already defined goal. The consultant will guide on how to reach
where you have chosen to go but not decide for you where to go.
The second function is also very important. To
actualise your vision, mission and core objectives, you need a strong
team of competent and dedicated staff. The people you employ are vital
for the take off and growth.
If you employ incompetent or people out to hung as
they look for a better job, you court trouble. Look for people who are
trainable, are passionate and ready to grow with you.
The rise and fall of any business largely depends
on the quality of staff hired and retained by the business owner. For
example, the success and outcome of a school, hospital, or a restaurant
does not depend on the buildings, assets, or even the owner. It depends
solely on the quality of employees, who execute the owner’s vision and
strategy.
Finally, cash is to a business what oxygen is to a
human being. You need enough of it and in continuously orderly flow to
function well.
Even if you have the best business plan and you
have hired the best employees, you need enough cash to empower and
facilitate them to execute your strategy. Employees get frustrated when
they are expected to perform but have no resources. Undercapitalisation
and cash flow problems are the major killers of good ventures.
Once you have effectively done these key functions,
you can delegate, appoint board of directors, managers or simply call
yourself chairman and watch your business grow.
No comments :
Post a Comment