One of the keys to success in business is getting the right balance.  This is true over a number of areas of business but especially relevant when ensuring that you have all ten departments (10 hats) of your business working as they should.  Any business from a self-employed painter with no employees to a large corporate have the same 10 departments or hats to wear. The ten departments in the order I like to put them in is as follows;

Name                                                    Function

Owners/Shareholders                       To Fund the business

Directors                                              To set the plan/provide direction

CEO                                                       Implement the plan and lead the team

HR                                                         Manage employment and engage the team

Product Development                       Develop products and services

Marketing                                            Generate leads

Sales                                                     Converts leads to sales

Operations                                          Get the work done and generate cash

Finance                                                Mange the cash

Mange the cash                                  Manage office tasks and systems to maximise efficiency

 

As you can see, there are many areas in a business all fighting for the attention that they deserve in order for your business to reach its full potential.  If you don’t spend time wearing the HR hat, you are likely to have disfunction in your team and high staff turnover.  If you don’t spend time on marketing activity, you are unlikely to get as many leads as needed. Or if you don’t manage your finances well, you will always have cashflow problems.  The list goes on for each of the departments in your business. Very much like the pistons in an engine, if they are not all firing at the same time and in balance you wont get the acceleration you need – or worse still, you stop altogether.

When you look at the list it can all seem a little daunting –  so many hats to wear and so little time.  And on top of that, many of these hats we either don’t enjoy wearing or we are not suited to them.  But don’t panic!  You should not be trying to wear them all anyway.  A business owner should never try and wear anymore than 6 of these hats and they should only be the six that you are genuinely the best at and enjoy the most.  Use the skill set of your team to fill the gaps and don’t be afraid to outsource tasks to ensure that every department is lead by the best person.

Good examples of outsourcing often come in the marketing, HR and finance hats.  There are plenty of companies out there that can help you optimise these departments.  They specialise in those areas and can give you an edge over your competition while allowing you to focus on other areas in your business.

Don’t underestimate the time required or the process you may need to go through to clearly define your departments and their functions. But if done correctly you will create a business which is scaleable, sustainable and ultimately saleable.  It will also take the pressure off you as a business owner to be all things to everybody, take away a few of the tasks you least enjoy, while allowing you to focus on the important tasks.

Reading back over the list, how many hats do you feel you are currently wearing?  And do you and those around you have clarity around each department and their functions, their roles and their responsibilities?

Your Co-Pilot advisor can help you establish and review your own organisation chart and help get the right people around you, in the right role, at the right time.  Give us a call.