Small Business Owner.
Making the decision to be your own boss and take off on your own adventure in being a small business owner is a very exciting thing to do. Most lay awake at night, in the wee hours, picturing in their mind just how great it will be once everything is up and running and their first customer says, “Thanks!”   There is so much that goes into planning a new business; of course, there is capital that needs to be raised. Who doesn’t need money to start a business? Also, logistics are important. Where will you work? Who will be your suppliers? How will you find customers? So many questions that need answering as a small business owner, for every answer you find, you get about 10 more questions in its place.   What about managerial skills? Presumably someone at some point is going to work for you. Even if you have had prior management experience, a management job at an established company looks a lot different than you setting up all the best-practices, HR policies and what have you. You have done that, right?   The most critical thing you can ever possess as a small business owner is good leadership skills. Many ventures have failed, or at least not reached their potential, because of bad leadership.  

Here’s How To Fail As A Small Business Owner

  Have Terrible Communication Skills: If you want to definitely fail at leadership, you should always neglect to set clear expectations and naturally assume that everyone who works for you should just inherently know what they are. I mean, they’d have to be stupid not to know.   Also, never acknowledge someone's effort on the job unless they are doing “it” wrong. They’ll never know what “it” is anyway, because you never set the right expectations. They’ll just know when it wasn’t done correctly by your elevated voice saying, “You’re doing it wrong!” What do you have to tell everyone who works for you how to do their job?   Become Elusive When Trouble Comes: If your small business hits turbulence the first thing you should do is keep the door to your office shut and take long lunches, better yet don’t come in as often either. Take a lot of days off to ignore the issues. After all, you hired people to do their work. Just leave them to it. If they quit, well they just weren’t cut out for a startup.   Most things get resolved on their own. Things will iron out and while they do, make sure you have all your irons in your golf bag. Keep your phone off too. You don’t want annoying “Are you coming in? Our supplier wants to know when his invoice will be paid” texts coming in during tee time.   Don’t Hold Yourself Accountable: If you are going to fail in leadership as a small business owner, don’t ever admit that it’s your fault. Rule #1 in the Bad Leader Handbook is to always shift blame. Employees are for throwing under the bus.   When you are the one doing it wrong, it is someone else’s fault for not telling you or it was because that darn consultant who gave you bad information; assuming you would allow anyone to consult you on how to run your business that is. But hey, at least there is someone to blame if you do hire one (or a few).   If you just can’t find a scapegoat around anywhere, try yelling. Yelling usually makes people stop talking to you about what is your fault. Besides, if you have already become well skilled at the first step, then not holding yourself accountable ought to be snap!   Do Your HR Management When You Have Time: Employees are always going to hunt you down about the following: Benefits information (especially if they are seeking healthcare and think something won’t be covered), paycheck issues, accrued time off, vacation schedules, W-2 forms; the list goes on. Who has time for that? You get to it when you have to. Feel free to put it off.   Why do people have to whine about stuff that benefits them personally? Don’t they see you have a business to run? As far as vacation time, when do you get any?  

Nothing Funny About Employee Management

When you hire someone to work for your own business, they are putting their career in your hands. Take it seriously. Your future depends on theirs as well. If you need help with any of the above topics, a PEO can be very beneficial in helping you get off the ground and stay competitive by offering HR management, benefits and payroll services so you can work on your business and your leadership skills. Talk to a PEO broker today, like PEO Spectrum, to find out more.

If you’d like to find out more about how PEOs can help you provide great benefits and payroll management at less than you are paying now, contact us today for a free consultation.

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