Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Who Does What. Roles In Your Business


Many small businesses start with the owner doing all the tasks that need to be undertaken to get the business growing. Having a plan to develop the business can start with a map of what the current territory looks like, and that can be as simple as commencing with good descriptions of each position that is important within the business – even when every position is currently filled by you!

Whether you look in the future to add employees or outsource parts of the operations to an outside service provider, it is helpful to have a good description of the position, both for the execution of the role in the best possible way, but when well crafted, can form the basis of your recruiting criteria for the position, as well as the baseline for assessing performance during future reviews.

Michael Gerber famously described the difference between “working in your business” from “working on your business.” With a good outline for all those positions within your business – both currently being undertaken, but also those duties that *should* be happening – even if they are not yet – then you have a great starting point to grow a healthy business.

Armed with comprehensive position descriptions, some well written procedures for each task and a visual organization chart, you are well on your way to developing your own ‘franchise prototype’. That’s smart. Smart for your business, and smart for your sanity as a business owner. And of course, all that smart translates as profitability. A well-run business will earn you more money, save you unnecessary stress and be worth more to a prospective buyer. You’d prefer that, right?

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