The last three years for me in business have been a real revelation.When one is busy managing a career in the Corporate industrial business world , one is too busy learning and being driven to build a career that sometimes it is difficult to imagine that you could ever help a small business owner run his or her business.
The facts are very different.
When I was managing many different businesses in competitive environments , the most significant contribution to be made was to manage people and business processes to achieve two things.
These are Customer Service and Profitability.
In making the transition to the SME world I assumed those things would be omnipresent, more immediate and natural instincts for owners whose entire livelihood was dependent on employees and customers.
The common feature however, is that people management and therefore attention to detail , and well managed business processes are not necessarily the attributes of the boss.
I feel very comfortable now because I am able to help.
Two owners recently actually asked me to review organisation and re-set the dials , so to speak , to get the heartbeat of the team working with common purpose and goals
The biggest issue was delegation and follow up.If you don't do the first there is no need to do the second...Not good !!
The second biggest issue is learning to trust , even those with whom the owner has been working for years.
The third thing is that to change culture and processes one has to start with the knowledge already available in the skills of the employees.To crank that up the owner has to manage people.
Ah the old chestnut returns !!!!!!!!
