Business Owner Newsletter - Page 27

As we've discussed before, there are always things that are happening to your business. Those things that happen to your business are difficult, because even when they are good they are outside of your initial control. This month we've looked at the point of view to take, how you can prepare, tools to assist in problem solving, and the importance of leadership. We want to leave you with a quick reminder. There will always be things that happen to your business. You may not be able to control them, but you can always choose to control how you react to them. Having the right resources is an important step in reacting to all the things that can happen to your business. Listed below are a few resources for you to consider:

This month we're focusing on how you react to things that happen to your business. We've discussed the importance of attitude andmaking time for preparations, but what do you do when it's go time? When you're in the middle of a crisis, or a new opportunity or challenge is coming straight at you? After all it's not like you can have a system for when things go wrong; a system for how to think through a problem; or, an opportunity that is happening or just on the horizon... or can you?

QUOTE: "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."   
~ Abraham Lincoln

On Wednesday evening Bob appeared on the local business radio show Insight on Business with host Michael Libbie.  Bob shared great business insights with Michael and his audience. If you missed hearing their interesting exchange, you can listen to the recording by clicking on this link: Insight on Business.

One of the criticisms we often hear about systems is that you can't cover all scenarios with a system. The truth is, we couldn't agree more! As a business owner, the number of items that you HAVE to be concerned about can be overwhelming. The sheer amount of threats and opportunities out there are exactly why you need systems in the first place. You need to be free to react and even better take advantage of things that are outside of your control, which is difficult to do if you're putting out day-to-day fires from things that are within your control.

This month we've focused on how, as a business owner, you get your team to take on ownership of a single task. If you've followed along you've defined what taking ownership of a task means, you've created a guide to handing ownership of a task over to an individual, and you've looked at the time you need to devote to this. The last step is making sure that the idea of ownership is not a one-and-done topic in your business.

Last week we discussed that in order to have your employees take ownership of a task you first need to define what taking ownership means to your business. If you haven't yet defined taking ownership, we encourage you to do so now or at least look at our sample definition. This week, we recommend you focus on one task one employee should take ownership of.  

We often hear frustrated business owners question why they can't get more of their employees to take ownership of their roles. Is it the hiring? Is it the culture? Can you not hire great employees anymore? We've covered this in other articles and know there is a combination of factors at play here, but mostly it's that your business is designed to get the results you are currently getting. If you want more employees to take ownership, your business needs to do something different. This month we're going to look at what "something different" means.