At the beginning stage of most companies, especially those that are service in nature, a business owner will operate as the visionary, manager and the technician. They wear all hats within a company. For the most part, that's expected until the company implements the organization, management and business development processes to grow into a mature company.
Michael Gerber's book, E-Myth Revisited, suggested that small businesses hamper their growth because owners too often function as technicians who work in the business versus on the business. In comparison to visionary entrepreneurs including Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Oprah Winfrey, to name a few, they are able to see where the company is headed long before others can envision its success, and in turn, they implement the right processes to systematize the company and they hire the right people to get the job done.
If small business owners are aware that operating as a technician hampers their growth, why do they remain in the technician stage?
What prevents small business owners from operating as visionary entrepreneurs who hire the right people and implement processes so their company can run like a well-oiled machine?
Many business owners will always function as the cook in their restaurants, accountant and service technician because they have difficulty giving up control of their business. The anxiety they experience causes them to waste time doing low-impact and/or technician related tasks that usurps their time and energy, which can be better, spent developing an implementing their growth strategy.
Moreover, they erroneously convince themselves that no one can perform the job as good as they can so they neglect reinvesting their profits into hiring top talent or training those who can succeed and get the job done. If they do hire someone, their problems with control and anxiety cause them to micromanage their employees creating an unhealthy work environment that suppresses the company's business growth.
To get out of the technician stage business owners need to address the anxiety that paralyzes their progress and cause them to remain stuck in a cycle of working as a technician. Eliminate the belief that your company will only grow with you at the wheel.
Let someone else drive the bus and you give him or her the directions.
This blogger graduated from Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Small Businesses program. Goldman Sachs is a partner of the What Is Working: Small Businesses section.