The reason you're exhausted from your business isn't the reason you think....
Maybe the reason your business is wearing you out isn’t necessarily because you’re burning the candle at both ends, or worried about making your bills, or because of another late order arriving.
While these are all worrisome and tiring, these could be symptoms of a deeper issue.
It could be due to a lack of capacity and diversity in one or all of three key areas: employees, suppliers, and/or customers.
How dependent you and your business is on any one employee, customer, or supplier can be a real indicator of business health, how high your business risk is, and how you, as the owner, are shouldering the effects of this directly. And, if that one employee is YOU, well that would be a signal of a lack of capacity or diversification of employees and skills sets.
I was recently speaking with a business owner who is dependent on one employee (themselves!) who tried to hire another employee recently.
They said ‘it didn’t work out’ and ‘it wasn’t a good fit’. And, they doubted that there would be a good employee out there that could do what they’re looking for.
I probed a little more and it became clear that they really didn’t believe another person could do what they could do and could serve the clients the same way they could.
I have heard variations on this theme from a number of business owners.
So what’s the answer?
Take a look at the three areas I mentioned and see how your business fares in these areas.
Employees
Have you ever hired someone and realized they’re not working out as planned? Before acting quickly to let them go, really consider a few things first. Very few people will ever have 100% of what you are looking for. So, what skills are they lacking? Could you provide a checklist for them? Have processes been clearly outlined? Is key information written down or easily accessible to support their success in the early days? What kind of onboarding did they have and do they require more training?
If an employee is just not going to work out (and it happens!) don’t give up and think that no one can ever fill the role you have. Consider trying again or look to other sources such as co-op or work placement programs, part-time, or contractor status to get some quick help and refine the position.
Look at your job description. How well does it actually communicate WHO you need? Did you get the ‘right types of applicants’; sometimes the description isn’t as clear as you think. You may also not emphasizing the right ones that are critical for the role or asking the applicant to have too many skills for one person.
Suppliers
How dependent are you on one supplier? If anything happened to your largest supplier what would happen to your business or how you serve your clients?
Could you take a portion of your business and try another supplier with a smaller order to begin to establish another relationship?
Your customers
How much revenue would your largest customer account for? The higher it is, the more at risk your business is.
If this applies to you, consider growing your revenue with other customers
And/or, consider focussing more on selling high margin products and let go of products/services where you’re not making much margin. What would your revenue mix look like then? And, how much would your profit margins increase?
Often I hear of a great weight being lifted when owners achieve results in any of these areas: getting the help they need, diversifying their suppliers, and decreasing reliance on one large customer. It greatly reduces business risk but also reduces worry, some work, and significant energy your business takes from YOU as the owner.
If you find that working in your business is exhausting, reach out to me and let’s see where your next best step may lie in ensuring you begin to enjoy running your business again.
For those counting, this happens to be the sixth driver of business value: Lowering Dependence on one customer, supplier, or employee.
NOW is YOUR time,
Ariana
PS: Let’s chat to discuss what this looks like for your business.