Posted by Sam Polimeni
Are you stuck in your business? Is your business stuck at the same level? Same level of profit? Same level of growth? Have you ever asked yourself why you’re stuck? In my experience, the key reason a lot of small business owners get stuck is because they get stuck doing the same job over and over again. Most small businesses start in what I call a high performance, cheap labor business.
Now, four out of five small business owners don’t get past the owner making a wage in their business. They don’t get past what I call the job stage of the business. And the major reason they get stuck is because the owner keeps doing the same things over and over again.
In Australia, there are over 2 million small businesses and over 85% of them employ less than five people. And it all happens because we all start off as a one-man band where we do everything. We make the promise and we deliver on that promise. And yes, I agree that no one can do it better than you. But the trouble is you’re not only just doing one job – you’re doing five jobs! You cannot be the part-time manager and the part-time salesperson and the part-time book-keeper.
The key to getting your business to the next level is to ‘get off the tools’. Whether you’re a trainee, a consultant, a professional or are in sales, you need to get off the tools. You need to get off the productive thing you’re doing in your business. If you’re a plumber, you’ve got to get off the tools. If you’re a salesperson in your business, you have got to get out of the sales.
I was talking to one of my plumbing clients a few years ago; his business was stuck, he sort of employed two or three people at the time.
His business had been stuck at the same level for probably the last ten years. Where was he stuck? He was stuck on the excavator. He wanted to grow his business, but he goes, “Sam, I cannot grow my business if I’m the only one that can get on the excavator.” I said, “Mate, let’s go find somebody else. I’m sure we can find somebody else.” So we went and worked out the type of person we were looking for and we went out and found that person.
Today, he’s got an apprentice on that machine, his business has tripled and quadrupled over the last couple of years. More importantly, the business is making substantial profits, which is probably the most pleasing thing that happened.
I have another client of mine who runs a very successful telecom services business, and basically, he was the major sales troubleshooter in the business. He was always a high-level sales person in the business. He’s got over 40 people working for him now, he was basically the CEO. But what was happening was always getting dragged into the sales and the more he got dragged into the sales, no one was left running the company. So what he did is he sacked himself from sales. He now manages the business and the sales team to go after and achieve what they got to achieve. So he basically sacked himself from the job.
I think the key thing in business is that you eventually need to stop being a one-man band and become the conductor. You’ve got to start moving from being the star in your business to the coach in your business. You’ve got to learn new skills; you’ve got to change your role in the business. Don’t keep doing the same thing over and over and over again. That’s how you’re going to create a fantastic businessSo the key message today is ‘get off the tools as fast as you can’ so you can develop a larger, better, more profitable business. Go out there and get it done!!
