As a business owner, there is a lot to be said for working on your business, not in your business. This distinction is an important one and will help free up your time to focus on the bigger-picture items. You shouldn’t be going on sales calls or answering customer service questions, those are easily done by someone else. But the big stuff, the strategic planning, should be something that you look at at least every quarter, if not every month. Where do you want your business to be in a year? In five years? Next quarter? What steps can you take as a team to get there? Are you meeting your goals within the time frame allotted? These are things that you as a leader should be focusing on and spending your time on. Don’t hand it off for someone else to do or ask a third-party vendor for a map on where your business should be going. Your journey is unique, and where you take your team depends a lot on how you strategically plan for the future.
Company Culture and Traditions
Another important area in your business that deserves your time and attention is your company culture. This invisible guiding hand is the backbone of your company, and if handled properly, could mean the difference between exponential growth and ultimate failure. Don’t pass it over to someone else and don’t expect it to happen overnight. What you do as a leader, how you handle victories and challenges, and how you communicate those with your team will pay off tenfold down the line. Company culture is built through a series of small but important choices. It is how to interact with your customers, vendors, and employees. The key is to devote attention to it on a regular basis.
Communication Processes
Another crucial task of a leader has to do with the communication processes within your business. How you define expectations, build relationships, and provide clarity for the group as a whole is a very important task that should be reserved for you. Building processes and communication channels across departments and employees is another ongoing process that will take time to develop, but it is one that is certainly worth the effort. Train your key team members to practice effective communication, and review and revise your processes often for the best results.