Get Off The Business Mouse Wheel
.Do you sometimes feel like a mouse running on a mouse wheel? You’re working hard, dealing with everything from sales & marketing, customer service, accounting, bank deposits and even performing your business’s core service or shipping product.
The day is over. You’re exhausted. You look back on the day, the month or even the years and you start wondering if you are any further ahead. You are not alone. Many (possibly most) business owners deal with this all the time.
One of the primary objectives I work on with business owners while they “Build The Enterprise They Always Envisioned”, is to build an entity that can run with minimal intervention from them. How is this possible?
In the book “The E Myth Revisited” by Michael E. Gerber he talks about the three personalities of the business owner: The Entrepreneur, The Manager and the Technician.
The Entrepreneur
The Entrepreneur is that crazy person in you that said, “I’m going fire the boss and start my own business.” Or “I’m going to buy that business.” An Entrepreneur is the dreamer, the visionary, the one who has a goal and end result in mind. He is the one who makes the decision to take the risk.
The Manager
Next, the Manager in you is the analytical one. That’s the one who sees the obstacles, measures performance and progress, takes care of the paperwork to ensure that the mouse wheel is heading in the direction set by the Entrepreneur.
The Technician
Finally, the technician in you is the person who has the specialized technical knowledge. Technicians work “in the business” performing the service or selling and shipping product. They typically are the business in the beginning where their expertise is what builds the business. Without them the business stops running.
Each personality in you has a different value to your business. The Technician plays the task oriented role where his value is based on the amount someone would be paid to do the same job. For example, if the business is a Plumbing Company the value of the Technician is what a plumber would make.
Depending on the business, the value of the Manager’s tasks are typically double the value of the Technician and the Entrepreneur’s value is often double that of the Manager.
Why is this? We measure the value of tasks by the long term impact it will have on the success of the business. The Technician’s tasks will usually have a short term effect on the business whereas the Entrepreneurs tasks will usually involve key decisions that will have a long term effect on the business.
Getting off the Business Mouse Wheel
Ideally the target should be to spend 80% of your time in Entrepreneur or Management mode. The reality is that many business owners spend very little time in Management mode never mind Entrepreneur mode. Start by spending at least 20% of your time in Management and Entrepreneur mode with the emphasis being in Entrepreneur mode. If you can achieve this you will find your business building quicker than ever before.
If you need help getting started on this please take advantage of my Free 60 Minute Coaching Session. We will focus solely on the action items you need to get you in Entrepreneur mode. To arrange you Free Coaching session just email me at tony@empoweredbusiness.ca or call me directly at 604.374.5934.
