The difference between working ‘in’ and ‘on’ a business is the difference between success and failure, growth and decline

It has become common among small business owners to start a business and become a slave of that business.

I will explain this in detail so that you also understand the matter fully; perhaps this can change the way you run your business.

This often happens when a skilled technician (be it a plumber, doctor, lawyer, or accountant) decides to start his or her own business and work hard to make it a success.

For example, a plumber starts a business after realising that the services are in demand among the people he or she serves.

He spends most of his time doing the actual plumbing work as opposed to working on the business’s development.

This is typically how most small businesses are structured and to this day, not many of the business owners see anything wrong with it,

I’d like to shed some light on the matter which might change your views on the question of who gets paid the most between the plumber and the CEO.

My guess is that you would say the CEO and without going too deep into the subject, I want us to explore some of the core duties and functions of a CEO, they are:

• To strategise;

• Create worthwhile relationships (strategic partners), and

• get the key players in the company (the right managers and employees).

In simple terms, a CEO is more like the coach of a soccer team. He ensures that he selects a winning team, by planning, position and strategising against his opponents (competitors).

If you do understand the game of soccer, you can begin to understand how vital the role of the right coach is, but it’s unfortunate that, when it comes to business, there are a lot of businesses that are running without a coach and the owners still wonder why their businesses are struggling.

This happens because the business owners also get to nominate themselves in the match and leave the coaching part vacant. As a result, they work harder and harder but get very little return at the end of the day.

It continues to get worse because when a specific key player does not seem to be performing to his maximum, he immediately leaves his current position and tries to occupy another position, thus leaving his previous role altogether.

At the end of the day he is exhausted. The worst thing is that what, at one time, seemed like freedom turns into a nightmare overnight.

The result of obvious failure and collapse of the business is unmanageable stress, frequent illness, emotional and physical deterioration, broken relationships and financial ruin.

It is in this type of organisational structure (jack of all trades) that the business owners cannot afford to even take a week off from their business.

Instead of working smarter, they work harder and this is because the business owner wants to do everything for himself.

I’d say this is the number one reason why most businesses never grow to the next level.

Your time must be spent working “on” the business instead of working “in” the business. That way, you work smarter and get other people to do the rest.

Kholofelo Pholafodi