Originally published on Linkedin.com on July 5, 2016 By Claudia Ferreira
Meet Steve. Steve started his own business 7 years ago by total accident! He had a mate who needed something done and could not find anyone in the region that provided that service. Knowing Steve dabbled in the sector he asked him if he could help. Steve did a fantastic job and more work followed. Not just from his mate but from other businesses looking for the same. In a spark of luck, Steve stumbled on a gap in the market and business soared very quickly. Soon the demand was so big that Steve had to take on staff to help him.
The thing is, Steve never really considered himself the “boss” type and although he had now 11 people working for him, somehow he kept having to jump in to fix problems or do a lot of the things himself.
For the last 5 years he hadn’t been able to take a family holiday and on the rare occasion when he had had a day off he kept his phone on and 9 times out of 10 was called in to sort a problem. He was missing his kids growing up and his marriage was on the rocks due to the amount of time he was spending at work.
I met Steve on a training event. During the break we got talking about business growth. When asked about growing his business, Steve was adamant:
– Grow? Gosh no! I hardly have time to breathe as it is! In fact if things carry on like this I may actually sell the business.
This was not the first time I had met a “Steve”. Someone on one hand, very passionate about what they do and fantastic at their job; and on the other hand, struggling to make the transition from individual responsible for self’s work to manager of others.
When you start a business from scratch it’s almost like giving birth – sometimes as painful as well – just like you raise your child, you grow your business with love and diligence. So it stands to reason that you will find it hard to let go of some of the control. However, just like with a growing child it becomes impossible for you to “be there” 24/7, the same happens with a growing business.
If you are having to work in the business 24/7 in order for it to function, something is not right. Also what would happen if you were taken ill tomorrow? Would your business collapse? If you think that is the case then you really need to reassess your business.
Steve did just that. With the help of Barry at Walking Among Giants he made long lasting changes that have impacted not only personally on him but also on all levels of his business. Today, Steve has 15 members of staff working for him and although his turnover has increased by 24%, his working hours have reduced to acceptable levels. He will take his first 2 week holiday in 5 years, in August, but in the mean time has managed to take the wife and kids on a couple of short breaks only checking his phone once per day!
There are lots of “Steves” in the Black Country, if you think you’re one of them have a chat with Barry D’Souza at Walking Among Giants. It may turn out to be, one of the best thing you ever done!
for more information please message me or visit www.walkingamonggiants.co.uk
Walking Among Giants provides bespoke training, consultancy and coaching packages to businesses throughout the West Midlands and the Iberian Peninsula.
Operating within the context of leadership and management, their areas of specialism are: Business Strategy, Marketing & Sales, Strategic finance and Business Operations.
Claudia Ferreira
L&M Performance Coaching Advocate! Helping ambitious people find the right support to succeed and be happy!