Grow Your Business – Get Off the Tools!

In my experience, the key reason a lot of small business owners get stuck is because they are doing the same job over and over again. Most small businesses start in what I call a high performance, cheap labor business.

Four out of five small business owners don’t get past the owner making a wage in their business. They don’t progress from what I call the ‘job stage’ of the business. The major reason they get stuck is because the owner keeps doing the same things over and over again.

In Australia, there are over 2 million small businesses and over 85% of them employ less than five people. It happens because they start off as a one-man band where they do everything. They make the promise and they deliver on that promise. I do agree that no one can do it better than you, but the trouble is you’re not only doing one job – you’re doing five jobs! You cannot be the part-time manager and the part-time salesperson and the part-time sales consultant.

Getting to the next level

The key to getting your business to the next level is to ‘get off the tools’. Whether you’re a trainee, a consultant, a professional or you are in sales, you need to get off the tools. You need to stop doing the productive thing you do in your business. For example, if you’re a plumber, you’ve got to get off the tools or if you’re a salesperson in your business, you have to step away from sales.

Speaking to one of my plumbing clients a few years ago; his business was stuck. He had two or three people employed at the time. His business had been stuck at the same level for about ten years. Why was he stuck? He was stuck on the excavator.

He wanted to grow his business but he stated,

“I cannot grow my business if I’m the only one that can get on the excavator.”

I told him we can find somebody else, so we went and worked out the type of person he was looking for and went out and found that person.

At the time that was a major obstacle in his business.

Today, he has an apprentice on the excavator and his business is fast approaching employing 10 people. His business has also tripled and quadrupled over the last couple of years. Most importantly, the business is making substantial profits, probably the most pleasing outcome of all.

Another client of mine runs a very successful telco services business where he was essentially the major sales troubleshooter or a high-level sales person in the business. As the business grew, over 40 people were employed and he became the CEO. The issue was that he was still getting dragged into the sales and as he often got involved in sales, there was no time for him to run the company. To resolve this issue he sacked himself from sales. This then allowed him the time to manage the business and the sales team in achieving what they need and helping the business grow further.

Learn and transition

To see your business grow you eventually need to stop being a one-man band and become the conductor. You’ve got to transition from being the star in your business to the coach in your business. You need to learn new skills and change your role in the business, rather than doing the same thing over and over again.

This is how you’re going to create a fantastic business.

The key message is ‘get off the tools as fast as you can’ so you can develop a larger, better, more profitable business. Get out there and get it done!

SP Solutions can advise you on how to grow your business into a multi-million dollar consume that’s far less reliant on you. Call (03) 9355 0500 or send us a message by clicking here.