Some of the key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy and Money, and both Business and Entrepreneurship. Depending on what kind of business you’re starting, a major key is eventually working on the business as opposed to working in it as described in “The E-Myth” by Michael E. Gerber. This contributed post is thus entitled; What’s Stopping You From Seeing The Big Picture?
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The devil is in the details when it comes to your work but getting stuck in those details while trying to run a business can make you oblivious to the big picture. Without a little distance and perspective, it can be much harder to notice the biggest obstacles, the best potential strategies, and the solutions your team needs. How do you get the perspective you need when you’re constantly in the trenches with the rest of the team?
No time at all
You have to make the time to work on your business, not just in it. Everyone has multiple responsibilities and a need to be able to juggle them. Being able to prioritize both your workload and your time can be crucial. Learn how to structure your workday, breaking it down into blocks of time that you can assign to multiple tasks. This way, you can find the time every day to take on the most crucial and urgent managerial or admin tasks while still leaving time free to strategize.
All the admin
If you’re taking care of all that administrative work yourself, you might never be able to find that time in the first place, however. There are a few steps to cut back on how much you have to deal with yourself. You can automate, using accounting, payroll, and HR software to take out the man hours necessary to keep all your systems up to date. For elements that need a human touch, like answering the phone, you might want to consider a virtual assistant, too.
Tech troubles
More and more businesses are relying more heavily on tech. They can help us unlock magnitudes more productivity, but the more we rely on them, the more our success becomes tied to them. If you’re spending a significant part of your working day solving tech issues, then managed IT services might be what you need. Not only can you use them to identify and solve problems much more quickly, but they could improve or build a network that makes you tech even more versatile and valuable.
Unempowered employees
If your team isn’t empowered to make their own decisions or work proactively, then a lot of your time is going to be spent babysitting them. This isn’t always necessarily their fault, but a result of a company culture that doesn’t encourage employees to be more engaged. You can change that by getting them more informed and involved in the overall objectives.
Not enough insight
Taking a bird’s eye view of the business can help you identify workflow issues and potential improvements to communication and cooperation. If you want to implement any strategy, however, you need to know how it looks on the ground, as well as the challenges your team faces. For that reason, you need to put an effective employee feedback loop in place.
Getting that perspective is crucial for a business owner but you should never forget what it’s like to work with the rest of the team, too. Their perspective can be just as helpful as yours.
