You would think that when your business is growing life would be all rainbows and lollipops. Bigger projects, bigger clients, more money….seems like a pretty simple formula. Cash the cheques, stock the fridge, take long weekends…..
Sadly, that is a growth that I have never known. Business growth to me means longer hours, more risk and harder decisions. Most importantly, growth means the hiring and management of more people, which is the greatest challenge of all. In a small company, the wrong hire can kill you because office harmony is key. Employees don’t necessarily need to be friends, but they do need to get along and respect each other. If you hire the wrong person you can move from ‘growth’ mode to ‘salvage’ mode pretty quickly.
Once you hire that smart, talented and personable person you face another immediate challenge…letting them do their job. People who have successfully launched a business have a tendency to micro-manage and to hold on to the reins too tightly. This is understandable, but it’s a mistake. No one can be the ‘best’ at everything. Not even you. You have to accept that there are other smart people out there, others who are capable of making a good decision, even if it is different from one you may have made. The ONLY way you will grow your business is if you step back and let the people you hired do what they were hired to do. It is also the only way that you will keep talent in your office.
Check out Entrepreneur.com’s ‘Employee Management’ section for more useful info: http://www.entrepreneur.com/columnists/davidjavitch/archive61506.html
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