Dirty Secrets of Small Business
One of the toughest decisions for many business owners is deciding when it’s time to get rid of someone. That “someone” could be an employee, contractor, customer, or even a vendor. One of the things we love most about small business is that it allows for a heart whereas big business usually comes down to a number.
Today we were joined on the show by business owner and former MVP business coaching client Terry Walkerly. Terry is the owner of Filta Environmental NEO, a leading provider of cooking oil micro filtration services to restaurants and other food establishments. Over his career Terry has owned several business including ones he’s both started as well as purchased. Although he barely made it through high school, Terry describes himself as a lifelong learner who has read just about every business book out there. Combining that with the school of hard knocks and Terry has a lot of wisdom and insights to share.
So you’re all excited because that new employee you’ve been searching for has finally accepted your offer. Now all you need to do is finish up the paperwork and complete a background check and they will be on the job before the end of the month! And then the background check comes back with a black mark. What should you do?
Communication is always a challenge, whether in business or in life. We often meet business owners who lament about the challenges of trying to get their team on the same page. It might sound something like, “How do I make sure everyone knows what is going on?” Or “Why isn’t everyone rowing in the same direction?”
We’ve heard from a lot of business owners over the years who are looking for a checklist to run their businesses. It’s often described as something like “do these 17 things in this order and you’re guaranteed to have success.” So is getting all these systems and procedures and SOPs in place really the answer for your business? Or should you focus on attracting and retaining the best people to be part of your Organization?
If you’ve listened to our show for a while or if you know us off the air, you likely know that we are big fans of Inc. Magazine. Not only do they usually have great articles related to entrepreneurs that are easily digestible, they also have many inspirational stories. We saw a recent article addressing something that is impacting every business (large or small), The Great Resignation. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, between April 2021 and September 2021 over 24 million American employees left their jobs.
Most business owners spend a lot of time thinking about their people. Do I have the right people? Are they doing the right things? Do I need more or different people? And perhaps the most vexing question, is it time to hire someone else?
When’s the last time you were pleasantly surprised by a new hire exceeding expectations? Someone who almost instantly adds value to your organization. The type of person who really takes charge and gets through your onboarding process quickly and dives right in. Perhaps they’ve even written their own job description and a plan for the next 30/60/90 days which includes things you didn’t even think about. Plus they have a lot of other intangibles that you didn’t even know you were looking for like taking charge of their area right away and quickly ingratiating themselves with the team they are going to manage. It’s like finding gold!
During the show today we focused on a couple of examples of organizations that have gone through successful rebuilds. One you might be familiar with, the Cleveland Browns. The others are likely more like your business in that they are smaller and lesser known. We used our 7 Keys to Success framework to help explain how these changes were accomplished through the Organizational Plan for the business as well as balancing short-term results with long-term success.
How many good employees do you have on your team? All of them? None of them? Not sure? We find that most small business owners don’t know how many good employees they have for a simple reason…they aren’t sure what a good employee looks like.