Seven Key People For your Small Business – Your Wealth Squad


business? To be successful, every business must have certain key people in it. For a small business, the owner may wear many of those hats. The problem that most small business owners run into... they have no clue which hats they need to be wearing. Knowing exactly what to wear and who to have wear it can mean the difference in a small business growing dramatically or floundering along and gasping for air year after year.

I won't go into a lot of detail on each one as I am writing a special report that details each of these people and the characteristics you need to be on the look out for when you search for someone to fill that role. No matter the systems we have in place or the business model, finding the right people will always make a huge difference. We have all seen someone who was on the fast track at work but got promoted into the wrong area and suddenly they stalled. Did they suddenly become less capable? No, they still have the same talents and skills that got them there but they no longer are using their talents, skills and strengths to their advantage. The job requirements don't match their strengths. Understanding that someone can be excellent at one job and lousy at another will go a long way to explaining why you want to find the right people for the key positions.

So who are these seven magical beasts that will revolutionize the world? Well that may be going over the top slightly but they are key roles in the success of every small business. It is more critical for a small business to find the right people for these responsibilities because the margin of error is much smaller. In a large company they can focus on the law of averages and even if they make several bad hires they can survive. A small business must be much more accurate in hiring these key people. This is one reason we need to have a clear understanding of their roles, responsibilities, skills and talents. So now on to the list.

The Seven Key People that you must find if you are starting a small business

1) The Visionary - The visionary is the first person in starting a small business. This is usually the small business owner. You must create the vision that you want your business to become. Do you want a small family operated business that focuses on customer service? Or a growing manufacturing company that produces outstanding physical products? Maybe a single person service business where your personal touch is the business cornerstone. Regardless of whether you think you are the visionary for your business, you are. You wouldn't have a business if you didn't have a vision for it. There are some techniques to help clarify your vision and develop a strategic plan that we will cover at a later date. Just enjoy being a visionary and contemplating the future like the Thinker. Create your vision and drive your business with it.

Without customers your business is dead. This leads us to the next two key people for starting a small business. Their role is your small business is to make sure people show up to buy your service or product.

2) The Farmer - When you are starting a small business, he prepares the field, plants the seeds, weeds, hoes, works daily to bring in crops on a regular basis. A farmer networks with other small business owners. He works steadily to prepare the ground. He works with the customer after the initial order to get referrals. Even when he does not appear to be selling the product, he is planting a seed that will grow to produce good fruit. I know that seems pretty flowery but think about this role. They work in many areas beyond sales though they are often there. They develop and give presentations to prospects. They address customer complaints and collect customer testimonials. Farming is hard work but delivers results that are fairly predictable. You never know how the economy is going to behave but you know certain actions will bring a steady flow of customers into your business. They often toil without glory on the day to day activities that keep your customers coming back for more.

3) The Big Game Hunter - Now while the farmer brings in the steady stream of customers, the Big Game Hunter focuses on the customer that can truly change the game for your small business. They track them and study them. They realize they may go many months without landing one. You can't depend on it to keep your small business alive but you can use them to grow dramatically when you are ready for it. You need to lay out who a Game Changing Customer would be and how to track them down. Don't think that the same techniques that work every day are going to attract Big Game. You have to plan, travel, lay out a strategy, and take your shot. Make sure you bring a big enough gun though. It would be a shame to get a meeting with a Big Game Customer and not have anything exciting to show them.

Now you have a vision and customers. What do you do with them? That's the role of the next two people.

4) The Executor When things need to get done, you need someone who can get them done. Self directed, able to follow directions and make things happen. Things are going to go wrong. You can count on Mr Murphy showing up on a regular basis while you are in business. I once heard it said that no plan survives contact with the enemy. Well reality can be your enemy. Customers will need things to be changed on a minutes notice. Employees will call in sick or just have a bad day. Suppliers will miss a deadline. If you stay in business long enough, you can count on things not going to plan. Having someone who doesn't accept excuses, who doesn't believe that failure is an option, the executor can also be called Mr Clutch. Having someone you can depend on to get things done can be the difference in having a successful small business or being a statistic.

5) The Duke - A Duke was responsible for making sure the duchy runs well. Dukes were the ultimate middle manager. They were responsible to the king for their results but also to the people who lived on their land. They laid out strategic plans, brought in talented and skilled people, and developed the community. They balance the objectives of the Visionary with the people who are delivering the product. A Duke covers the ground from Visionary to Farmer and Big Game Hunter and the Executor. He makes sure that all parties play nice together and helps to create synergy from the other members of your squad. Dukes must be good at managing people, developing and implementing systems, working with suppliers and a multitude of personalities.

Now that you have a pretty strong squad, you only have a couple of people left. You have a vision, customers and a team that gets things done. What's left? Well to make sure you are successful at starting a small business, you need to understand the numbers. This leads us to our next star in your squad.

6) The Bean Counter - Now matter how good your vision, how many customers or how well you execute you need to keep an eye on the numbers. Now typically when you think of bean counters, accountants and tax preparers come to mind. Well expand your mind. The numbers drive more than just your accounting. You can use them in every area of your small business. One of the most important measures is your cash flow. If you don't have a good feel for the numbers, make sure you have someone on your team who does. If you don't watch the numbers, you can find yourself growing your way to bankruptcy. Business metrics are implemented in every company regardless of size. Make sure you determine the best metrics for every area of your small business. Customer retention, customer acquisition cost, lifetime value of the customer, cash flow, profitability, customer satisfaction scores, and many many others. Start simple. Build your system so that you can use it to manage your growth.

The last guy on the list. Lowly Number 7.

7) The Cleaner - Now don't think this is the janitorial staff. The Cleaner is the guy you hope never shows up for work. He is the one who gets to fix a mess. He settles and calms the angry customer. He works with the press when bad news shows up. When employees are fighting and dragging down the moral of the company, the cleaner does his job. The cleaner shows up when everything else has broken down. The Big Game Hunter made too many promises and upset the customer. The Farmer planted too much or not enough to have the right flow of customers through the door. The Executor failed to get it done. The Duke didn't manage his resources well. The Bean counter left out some numbers or was skimming off the top. The Cleaner comes out when the dirty work needs to be done. When you need to roll up your sleeves and fix things. Your goal as a small business owner is to make sure the cleaner stays out of the office.

When you are starting a small business, you may wear the hat in all of these rolls. To grow from simply being self employed to being a small business owner, you have to find people to fill these roles. You can contract them out, bring them on as partners, hire them as employees or a combination of all of them. No matter how large your small business grows, you will always need to keep your finger on the pulse of these key people in your wealth squad.

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