Many small business owners enjoy the fact that they are in control of their business and their future. At the beginning of their endeavors, willing to take the many responsibilities that a small business entails, it is not only smart but cost effective. As the business grows, the ability to delegate and give responsibilities and control over various aspects of the business become more of a difficulty for many small business owners, and some of them do not welcome the change. Follow the links below to read more about this topic.
9 Steps That Will Help Your Chances of Starting a Successful Business
If you are unemployed, underemployed or unhappily employed, the idea of taking control and becoming your own boss might be sounding pretty sexy right about now. Plus, the past decade has shown us that jobs aren’t quite as dependable as perhaps we previously thought.
However, the success rates for new business are quite scary too, with the majority of all new businesses failing in just a few years’ time. While there is never going to be a “sure thing,” if you are thinking of leaving your job to hang out your own shingle, there are significant benefits to preparing before you take the leap.
Here are nine ways to make sure that you are prepared before you start your own business, so that you can give yourself the best chances to succeed. These are adapted from my bestselling book, The Entrepreneur Equation.
Maybe It’s Time to Let Go of Control in Your Business
How much control do you really have in your business? Do you know what to do with it? Does having it help you or hold you back in your business? What about when you want to change something? Does control help you then?
Growing a business is one of the most life changing experiences on which you will embark. It’s challenging, exhilarating, exhausting, scary, fun and my goodness, some days it can be downright hard.
Why is it hard?
Because it involves change, trust and letting go of control.
Surrendering to change means letting go of being in control. Yet, as much as we want our lives to be different the truth is, we don’t like it much when our illusion of being in control is challenged. The feeling that we are in charge of our lives gives us leverage in our attempts to avoid the experience of loss. Yet, these efforts to circumvent loss are the very foundation of our excessive anxiety and worry. – Katherine Woodward Thomas (Calling In The One).
Instead of Flexing Authority, Leaders Should Influence Employees
When it comes to managing employees, most employers tend to take one of two key leadership approaches. There’s the “power/authority” approach, where it’s their way or the highway, or the “influence” approach, where the goal is to get employees on the same page and empower them to make decisions that will have a positive impact on the organization.
In today’s work world, employees want to feel like they are a part of the decision-making process. Millennials, especially, want managers who give them the freedom to do their jobs and trust they will deliver.
In fact, in a 2014 survey of 16,637 millennials worldwide titled Millennials: Understanding a Misunderstood Generation, nearly half of people in this age group from North America want a manager who “empowers their employees” above all else.
Clearly, for those who manage the fastest growing part of today’s workforce, it’s time to take the focus off of the power/authority approach and on to the influence approach. Here are three areas where the influence approach is especially useful in the office:
