Managing a small business involves many roles. As an entrepreneur the business will expect the role of a leader foremost. In management theory skills have been separated into three main areas conceptual, management and operational skills. As the business owner the more important would be conceptual and management skills as is highlighted below.
Leadership involves getting work done through others, getting the best performance, motivation, passion for the work and leading by example. The leader doesn’t ask to be followed but has followers do you command that type of respect from your workforce?
Visionary involves being able to see the future where others can only rehash the past. Can you see where your industry in going and what it will take to get you there. Conceptual skills are some of the most important skills that a small business owner should have.
People skills are essential to bring out the best in other – can you delegate the right task to the right person.
Planning is one of the crucial skills that a entrepreneur will need to master – without a good ability to plan all other functions of the business cannot be managed as the business objective of the business are set by the planning phase.
Small Business Management
Organising is one of the skills that entrepreneurs need to develop – there are now many software that make organising a breeze – invest in a good system that allows all functions to work with maximum efficiency and the business will yield a higher return.
Directing a business is not an easy task as there are many things that need to be managed at the same time – a good manager learns to juggle many things and knows what to give priority to. If the directing is good then the business will face fewer fire-fighting situations.
Controlling the business when things need to be done right and urgently to meet demands of stakeholders. A large order may be the make or break point for a budding business. Can you control processes and get the best done fast. Sometimes things need to be done differently and processes changes – only the controlling factor of business will give the feedback regarding what needs to be changed. So have good control procedures set in place to tell you when the business is going to deviate from business objectives or KPIs
The SBA.gov website has a lot of resources regarding small business management and as a business owner being knowledgeable about these key areas is essential for success. Please review the information that they have presented.