Snow Business, June 2016

LEADERSHIP Building a value added team Management teams equal freedom and leverage for owners BY MIKE RORIE Contributor M ost young entrepreneurs and businesses rely on themselves for the majority of heavy lifting and key decision making when operating their companies The idea of being able to afford key people as well as delegating authority usually takes quite some time to achieve But after 10 to 15 years of running the business and growing and competing for customers and staff most owner operators are looking for help and they also have the dollars to actually add help Now when I say help its not the kind of help you already have Its the kind you dont Im referring to managerial assistance or simply put having another person in the business that can do what you do The list of what it takes to manage a small business is long selling handling customers hiring and firing staff or subcontractors buying materials and equipment looking for another yard meeting with your accountant overseeing field operations and the countless other tasks you cant imagine someone else doing on your behalf But without adding a management team to help you tackle the rigors of operating a small business your ability to grow and to enjoy that growth move further and further apart Choosing a team Employing a management team is a significant achievement for any owner operator who started with one customer and grew their business to the point where dozens or even hundreds of customers staff and other providers rely on them Accepting the idea that making important decisions about the business will become a shared responsibility is huge 22 SNOW BUSINESS JUNE 2016 www sima org snowbusiness But the time a key manager can provide for a business owner is worth more than making more money to most business owners who achieve this level of success So how do you start the process to add a key person to help you manage the business Select the person or people who will become your team Often they come from within the company after all who knows you or the business better Plus rewarding hardworking staff members that have helped you get this far is often viewed as the right choice by other employees Determine where this person will function as manager This probably depends on the areas where you need the most help as well as the areas where you have the most competent people who can be promoted to manage In most companies three major areas require a leader or manager sales operations and administration You likely have held all of these spots and are probably very strong in one or two of them however having a committed experienced individual in each spot is powerful Prior to having these areas managed you ordinarily would suffer in some capacity Either a great deal of time would be lost to opportunity or great costs would be incurred because things didnt get handled in a timely organized way Under each of these areas there are several subcategories but if a small business has truly competent committed management in these three key functions a lot of the demand to run the business has been met Also by having these slots filled you have an opening for controlled growth for you the owner to enjoy As your company grows more leadership and management positions enter into play Eventually like yourself your key managers will grow to where they too need to add leadership under each part of the companys departments Owner benefits Because you have built the business to a level where key managers can effectively 1 2