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Do
You Have a Business or a Job?
Most people go into business for the wrong reason.
They are skilled technicians; they are great at whatever it
is that they do. They believe they can earn more by doing
it in their own business than for someone else, so they leave
and open their own business. This is what we call an "entrepreneurial
seizure." Typically what happens is that:
- The carpenter, or the electrician, or the
plumber becomes a contractor.
- The technical writer starts a technical writing business
- The hairdresser starts a beauty salon.
- The cook opens up a restaurant.
- The accountant opens up an accounting business.
- A graphic designer opens up a graphic design business
- The musician opens up a music store.
All of them, believing that by understanding
the technical work of the business they are immediately and
highly qualified to run a business that does that kind of
work.
And it's simply not true! And it is this we call “The
Fatal Assumption”.
In fact, rather than being their greatest single
asset, knowing the technical work of their business becomes
their greatest single liability.
For if the technician didn't know how to do
the technical work of the business, he would have to learn
how to get it done. He would be forced to learn how to make
the business work, rather than to do the work himself.
The real tragedy is that when the technician
falls prey to the Fatal Assumption, the business that was
supposed to free him from the limitations of working for somebody
else actually enslaves him.
Suddenly the job he knew how to do so well becomes
one job he knows how to do plus a dozen others he doesn't
know how to do at all.
Because although the “entrepreneurial
seizure” started the business; it's the technician who
goes to work.
And suddenly, an entrepreneurial dream turns
into a technician's nightmare.
These technicians believe they will find more
freedom in their business, but they discover it is the hardest
job in the world, because there is no escape. They are the
ones who are doing the work!
They are the "business!"
But if they are the business, they haven't really
created a business at all; they have created a job
for themselves!
The role of the business owner is really quite
different. The role of the business owner is to create
a business that works independently of him or herself
- a business that produces consistent, predictable results
– a money machine. At that point, the business owner
may choose to sell it, open up another just like the first,
franchise it or spend less time in the business.
The problem with technicians is they believe
they ARE their work - they're incapable of being objective.
You need to transcend your business, as if looking down on
it, and few are capable of that.
For example; the carpenter believes that he
needs to personally install those expensive cabinets, so he
works 18 hours a day, six or seven days a week, and enjoys
the illusion of having a successful business. It's an illusion
because as soon as the carpenter quits rushing from job to
job, everything collapses. Ironically, a technician who goes
into business has less freedom than an employee.
Each morning, we should ask ourselves, "Am
I going to a business, or am I going to a job?" If we
are going to a job, what are we going to do about it?
Go to work ON your business,
not IN it, is the solution. The business
should thrive on a level apart from its owner. It should run
on a system, not sweat.
You may think that your business is special
or unique, and that no one else can do it like you. That is
not correct. Any business is a system, a system that must
be clearly designed and monitored.
Business owners overlook the systems within
their business because they are too tied up in day-to-day
" technician" work, or hold a misguided desire to
run everything in a "chaotic drama."
A system is liberating. But in order to get
there requires discipline.
Building an effective system is not difficult.
Anyone can do it.
In the coming articles we will outline some
of the Business Development Process that have the power to
take your business from where you are now to where you want
to be in the next 3-5 years.
Ted Bonel is a Certified E-Myth Consultant
and Business Coach, trained by Michael Gerber to deliver the
E-Myth Mastery Program to Small & Medium sized business
in Australia. He has worked with hundreds of business clients
in Australia & Overseas in transforming their businesses.
He can be contacted on 1800 350 336.
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