They call this a “Dashing Cavalier” hat:
When you are at work as an SME Business owner, do you try and where one of these?
The Dashing Cavalier: The person who can do everything?
What I am talking about here is that as a business owner, unless your business is perhaps $10m plus per annum, you get to wear all the hats. The cool ones and the not so cool ones.
The Dashing Cavalier is the one you wear when you know what you are talking about.
Look at me: I am an engineer and I am supremely confident out in the workshop, on the lathe. Mmmm, not so good in the office though, or chasing debts, marketing, people management and so on.
That is where the other hat comes out.
As SME owners, we often try to do everything and it ends up being a cost to the business. We cannot be experts at everything. We must pass on some responsibilities and accountably to others. They may be in the business already, or you may have to go and find one or two.
The success of your business depends not just on your ability to wear the “Dashing Cavalier”, but also in finding competent people to wear the hat that sits comfortably on their head (not yours).
Just have a think for a minute about all the things we do as the typical business owner:
The hats we typically try and wear:
Our Everyday At Work Hat:
- The know everything hat
- Marketing expert hat
- Answer the phone hat
- Sales hat
- Debt Collectors hat
- Invoicing hat
- The Quoting hat – mmm
- The Disciplinary hat
- Financial whizz hat
- Talk to the bank hat
- Business planning hat – the get around to it hat
- IT expert hat
- Customer service hat
- Complaints department hat
- Be nice and remember to value the team hat
- And of course, the Plan for the future hat
If you have a desire to be what you always dreamed of becoming in business, please, do not try and wear all the hats.
Be the Hat Manager: Manage your team, their expertise and get that outside expertise you can use for your future success. They can all wear their own hats.
Time is often not measured as a cost when you think about yours as the business owner.
Think about all the hours you have spent “doing your best”, only to deliver something less than desired. Use your expertise in the areas where you are the expert, call others in, and use them for the rest.
If you want to talk to us about the “experts” give us a yell at Prime: We can help you get your life and your business back on track…