​​​​George Marcou

When you make the decision to start your own business, you embark on one of the steepest learning curves that you can imagine.

 

You may go from fulfilling 1 role for an employer to having to cover every management role, including some that are that are outside of your skill-set and comfort zone.

 

You suddenly have to become the swiss-army-knife of bosses.  You may not be great at everything, you don’t even have to enjoy all of these new duties, but you are now responsible for it all, so you have to know how it works.

 

Your awareness is key to knowing what needs to be done in all areas of the business in order for it to be successful. 

 

You also need to be aware of the problems that can lurk in each of these new areas, so that you can avoid making mistakes that can jeopardise your business.

 

Even if you can delegate these roles, you still have to know that they are being completed to the fullest.  This means that you have to be on top of these disciplines and recognise their value to your business.

 

Back off of your responsibilities in these areas and watch as parts of your business can potentially slip from your ability to fully control them and to pre-empt or counter issues that can become problems.

 

Your new role starts here:-

 

Chief investor – Your livelihood and those that rely on you depend on the business performing well.  You have invested your time, at the expense of a salaried role elsewhere, you have almost certainly invested substantial amounts of money that you cannot afford to lose.

Any loans that you have taken out to finance your business will depend on its success in order to repay them.

You are completely reliant on the performance of the business’s management team and their decisions to safeguard and repay our investment.

 

Now meet the team.

 

 

Managing Director / CEO – You are responsible for the whole business and everyone working within it.  The buck stops with you.  You lead the rest of the management board and the other roles that you now hold. 

You hold and drive the mission, vision and values for the business and ensure that they are executed everyday as part of a coherent and consistent business plan.

You are responsible for repaying the faith that your investors (and their dependents) have placed in your abilities to run a company profitably. 

The MD’s main role is to make sure that every member of the management team performs to the full extent of their role and to ensure that no one on their management team drops the ball.  

When you start out, you are more than likely the entire management team or covering many roles.  Good luck.

 

 

HR Director – Understanding how to hire the right team and look after their needs means stepping into the shoes and responsibilities of a HR director.  Good Human Resource processes can help you to comply with legislation and not fall victim to the many laws that are designed to protect the rights of your staff.

Taking it a step further, you can take the opportunity to develop, train and build loyalty in your valuable team members and build their capability to help push the business to new heights.

 

Finance Director – This role is different to that of an external accountant.  An accountant is responsible for ensuring that you meet your compliance obligations and avoid HMRC fines.  A finance director’s job is to use the business’s figures to analyse what needs to be done to make it successful and to project it’s future.  That is very much an internal role.  Your role. 

A really good external accountant can bridge this gap, if they are the proactive kind. 

A great commercial accountant can give you the kind of support that will make being your own finance director effortless.  They can make sure that you have access to all of the figures that you need, understand them and can make the most informed choices based on the facts that your numbers demonstrate.

 

Have you ever noticed how famous entrepreneurs and businessmen are obsessed by their financial figures?  It’s no accident that the stock market judges businesses based on their financial reports and results.  This is the information that gives you the most insight and control over the health of your business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marketing Director – Today’s market demands that you make use of all forms of marketing to let potential customers know that your business exists.

The most important location for your business is often online.  Your presence there and in social media enables you to find customers in the places that they spend increasing amounts of their time.

Work on the message that you want to deliver to your ideal customers and use the widest range of applicable delivery channels to get your message to enough people who will appreciate it.    Then entice that audience to come to you.

 

 

Sales Director – Nothing happens in business without sales being made and money coming in.  The way that you sell depends completely on you.  How do you want to present your business and what you can offer?

Listen to you customers and deliver something that they will thank you for.

Sales, working in conjunction with marketing, are the face that you present to the world.

You owe it to yourself and your fellow directors to sell effectively and in sufficient volume to make your business not just viable, but profitable.

Great sales practices can create a great business.

 

 

IT Director – Modern business has to use modern tools in order to perform at the same level as the legion of competition that fights to attract the spending of your customers.  The IT director is responsible for ensuring that these tools are available to the business to perform at the highest level possible.  Every part of your business can and should benefit from good tools that support their functions.  Most of these tools and facilities are now inexpensive and accessible for small businesses.  Many are now aimed specifically at small businesses.

Good technology can give a small company the same reach and ability of a much larger company.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Financial Planner – Why is this role so important? This is the role that that makes use of the profits that your business generates today, to ensure that you have a comfortable life when you decide that you no longer want to work.  Every other part of your business needs to work very effectively to deliver the sort of performance and success that enables you to use the profits effectively to guarantee your financial future.

There are many professionals that can advise you as to how to retire well and turn your business’s hard-earned income into your passive income.   You need to start this process yourself, by being very clear on what kind of return you need on your investment and what kind of nest-egg you want to enjoy later on.

Don’t be one of those businesses that survive for 30 years and leave the owner wondering how they’ll pay their bills when they can no longer work.  The management team should be working on delivering a little bit of this retirement fund everyday from day 1.

 

Your long-term financial future is one of the reasons that you have taken on the running of your own business.  Don’t lose sight of those big goals.  They should drive you to ensure that each of your directors works to their fullest every day.

 

Where you are the prime investor of time, resources and money into the business, this is where your sacrifices and generosity are repaid. 

 

 

How do you want to retire?  Or is your goal to pay for a lifestyle that is currently out of your reach? 

What do your goals look like?

 

 

 

Capitalising and using each of these roles to their fullest allows you to build a solid cash-rich business that delivers a lasting legacy to you.