![]() ![]() The same goes for employees – it would be really nice to have someone to answer your phones, bring you coffee, and handle a million other tasks. Trying to grow too fast or aggressively can land you with a bunch of debt you can’t pay off and a bunch more equipment, space, or supplies than you can actually use. For a small business, however, every buck counts. Big companies can afford to take big loans (and bigger risks) because they already have an established credit record and cash flow to back it up. And that means you may start looking at more space or the newest and shiniest equipment before your business can really support those investments. Slow and Steadyįast growth is tempting – it’s hard to be patient when you’re putting this much work in. And staying involved at the lowest levels will also make your business better – it’ll help you keep in touch with your customer’s needs. ![]() Don’t jump straight into management and lose sight of your actual product or service. Big business CEOs have to focus on high-level issues – you need to be focused on everything from the ground up. Know from the outset that you, as the small business owner, will be involved in everything. If you run a bakery, on the other hand, you’d better be able to use that oven! ![]() The CEO of Betty Crocker doesn’t need to be able to make a cupcake (or even boil water!). But you’ll also need to be able to do the customer-facing work. Small business CEOs still need management skills to deal with strategy, supply chains, budgeting, employees, and other issues. They can focus on managing their employees and operations from a high level. Here are a few things to watch out for: Management Is Not EnoughĬEOs of large corporations have trained support staff and round-the-clock administrative teams to assist with all day-to-day business needs. We may dream of being big CEOs, but acting like them can put our businesses in serious trouble. A Fortune 500 CEO can’t possibly be involved in every aspect of the business – there’s just too much going on! Big company CEOs are going to be more focused on overall strategy and making sure everyone is pulling in the right direction. At a big company, there are whole departments of people dedicated to each of those tasks. You’ll personally hire any employees, manage your bookkeeping needs, create your business plan and budget, and get the funding you need. You’ll be personally dealing with customers, suppliers, and the actual work being done. But what that actually looks like is very different at small and large businesses.Īt the end of the day, a small business owner is going to be right in the weeds. And at any size, the job of the CEO is to keep the business running. While general business values may be the same – careful planning, budget management, building relationships, and marketing are valuable no matter the size. The reality is that many of the day-to-day aspects of being a small business CEO differ greatly from the daily lives of CEOs at larger blue-chip counterparts. If it works for tech juggernaut Apple, why wouldn’t it work for your startup computer repair shop? It seems natural to look to big, successful companies to learn tricks for running your own business. We often start small businesses with the hopes of turning them into big businesses – we want our projects to succeed and grow bigger. ![]()
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