Saturday, November 26, 2011

Ownership

Means more than just having the title to an asset.

I am a small business expert and I fix companies.

Ownership can be exchanged for another word - accountability.  It means that you will get up from your comfortable bed, chair, (fill in the blank) and take the inconvenient call, bring the dog in, discipline your child, (again, fill in the blank).
I don't know how you teach this if you aren't born with it; I think it can be awakened if it is dormant, but how do you teach someone to care?
Too many times I run into people who, truly, have no business being in their current role and responsibility; the guy who is paralyzed with indecision by the cushion that his wife's income from her job in Corporate America provides him so that he can afford to not make the tough decisions and declare himself.  Instead, he embraces mediocrity like a warm, moist towel and wallows in something that is not victory yet isn't defeat.
Or the guys who were partners in a business and wanted to go to the next step - one guy wanted to do what it took; the other was still smarting from a business reversal that had happened a few years prior.  That lesson, rather than galvanize him into action, taught him that he needed to now become the bottleneck for every decision (large or small) in the company.  Meanwhile, the business slowly strangled...

Ownership - requires boldness, wisdom, humility and (more than anything) the ability to shake the cobwebs out of your head and refuse to settle for complacency.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The right stuff

No, not the movie, but just as spine-tingling!

I am a small business expert and I fix companies.

One of the issues I constantly keep bumping up against is the composition of the company team.  You'd be amazed at how a HUGE amount of time, attention and resources will frequently be devoted to the development of a plan, a product, service, etc. but the most important item (the glue) to the whole enterprise is neglected.
What is the glue?  What binds everything together?
People.
Good people who are the right fit for the right role at the right time.
For some reason, it escapes people (normal, thoughtful, smart people) that the same guy with whom you started your company in your garage is not necessarily the best guy to be with you 3 years later when you are now a few million in size and moving into new office space.
You're a good person even if you need a different type of human resource to take it to the next leg.
PLUS, who knows?  Maybe YOU need to replace yourself with the right person who can take your baby to the next level...