Can you leave your business for one month, disconnected from everything? Can you imagine what will happen inside your business without you?
These are intriguing questions for all entrepreneurs. But, answering them will answer many things about how you are building your small business. When I work with established companies, these questions are always on my question asking list. I think it is better to show you some of the answers I have recorded:
- No way, it will be the disaster.
- I want that, but nobody can replace me.
- I am going on a two-week vacation and then I cannot normalize the company for several months.
- My customers need me, my employees need me, my partners need me… So, how I can leave my company?
- I can leave, but only if I have more competent employees.
These are five answers that I have recorded from entrepreneurs from different industries.
Why These Answers Come From Business Owners?
Let’s look at these answers to find real reasons.
1. Why will disaster come if you leave your business for one month?
This answer is closely related to the fifth answer and your employee’s competence. Many entrepreneurs think that their employees don’t have competence for their companies. But it is not true. Why? Because one of the reasons you are hiring employees is to expand your current business competence. So, the problem is not with your employees, but the problem is inside you and your recruiting system.
First, the problem is deep in your own beliefs. The second problem is lack of procedures. When your employees know what they need to do, and you have competent people around you, then you can allow yourself to leave. So, it is your responsibility to develop competence and procedures. These competencies and procedures will move your business forward, even you are not there.
2. Why are you an unreplaceable person in your company?
If you think that the answer is that you are an entrepreneur, owner, and most clever person in your company, you are wrong. It is true that you are important, but it is not true that you are not replaceable.
Why? Because running a company will need different competence that you as an individual cannot have or achieve soon. Even if you succeed in achieving new competence, you will always need another. On the other side, some of the already achieved competences will become obsolete for your company. So, you need to change your thinking about you as a basis for everything in your company. You need to work on employees development to ensure the high level of task delegation that becomes standard in the work.
3. Why you spend several months to normalize your business after two weeks vacation?
If this is true, then you have big problems. You have allowed yourself to make many mistakes in the development of your company.
When I get this answer, I know that their companies don’t have systems on which will base their normal operations. You need to have procedures about processes, employee’s responsibilities, and clear definition of everyone’s job. If you succeed in developing this, you will not have such a problem. But, if you let things to pile up when you are absent and waiting for you to return from vacation, then you will need to work on normalization.
4. Why everyone needs you?
I know that everyone related to your company will need you, but we don’t talk about your personal life. We are talking about business, that is an organizational system with own functions and processes.
If you always need to talk with all customers, suppliers, or employees you cannot manage your company with success. All your functions will need to do their own job if you design your company in a right way.
For example, sales and marketing will talk to your customers. Finance function will make payments to suppliers and prepare invoices to customers. You will need to manage these things and not to involve yourself always in their execution.
5. Why don’t you have more competent employees?
It is not the fault of your employees because of their lack of competence. It is your fault, or better said it is a fault of your company. Why?
Who manages their selection and employment? Your company. Why your company selected them? The next important question is related to their development in your company. Building competence will need training, mentoring, experimenting, and doing things. All these processes you will need to integrate deep into your company. So, your company’s responsibility is to select the best employees and to develop them to become even better.
As you can see, you can’t leave your company for one month because you don’t have developed your company in the right way. Your company doesn’t need to be based on you as an entrepreneur. You will need to base your company on systems that will do things for normal operations. It is not about the persons, but it is more about the systems.
