More Free Time Zone

To some, one of the perks of  business ownership is the opportunity to puff up with self-importance; “I own the place” can be pride or ego talking. Feeling necessary to the daily procedures, that “this place would fall apart without me” or holding tight control because you fear ‘no one will do as good a job as I will’  is not pride, it’s ego pampering. And not only is it not serving your highest intentions, it’s not serving your business.

Ironically, becoming the least important person to your daily routine is the most important thing you can achieve. This doesn’t mean you’ve got no role to play. This means that when you’ve put systems and people in place to manage your daily operations, you can turn your attention to future opportunities, growing your business instead of responding to sales and customers you’ve already acquired. And that’s where you also increase the value of your enterprise because you’ve shifted its emphasis from you as the chief, cook and bottle washer to the business itself. And this will show up for you in smoother operations, consistent experiences for your customers, faster training of new team members, less risk of losing company wisdom if someone leaves, and best of all, fewer people interrupting you when you’re deep in the entrepreneurial zone of creativity.

The way to achieve this is by applying a 2nd concept, that of servant leadership. In this role, you’ve made sure that all who assist in keeping things moving forward for you – suppliers, virtual assistants, designers, marketers, partners or other employees – have everything they need to make it happen. That would include training, tools, written procedures, goals, encouragement, communications and the incentives to do tasks with the degree of excellence justifying your choice to delegate the daily routine.

See how nicely this all works together? So now, when you say with pride “I own the place” it will be because you set your ego aside for the bigger rewards – time, money and well deserved pride – gained by your choice to become the least important person in your business. Sounds pretty important to me.