Don’t Try to Hammer a Tent Stake with a Wrench

My nine-year old son and I fancy a spontaneous “adventure” now and then—especially ones that embrace camping in the state parks around our home here in North Texas. We try to convince the rest of the family to join us, but generally it’s just the two of us on a Friday or Saturday night.  Usually we make short trips, so we travel light and just rough it, contentedly making do with whatever tools and supplies got tossed in our Tahoe. We’re both pretty good at improvising, and we’re used to relying on just the two of us. 

A couple of years ago my son joined Cub Scouts, and a few times a year we camp with about fifty other people—scouts, moms and dads, siblings. A little different from just the two of us.  One weekend, his pack chose to camp at Sid Richardson Scout Ranch. I was unfamiliar with its rugged terrain, with its rocky soil. I’d never pitched a tent in soil even near that rocky. My hammers were all sitting in my garage at home, but I placidly improvised. I had a heavy-duty adjustable wrench, so my son and I began taking turns using this wrench to hammer the six-inch tent stakes through a mass of stony gumbo. It was tough going. We doubled our efforts, but admittedly our efforts were fairly fruitless.  Not about to give up, we struggled on. 

Watching our frustration, another Scout dad strolled over, introduced himself, and made us an offer: “You’re a member of a group—ask to borrow a hammer.”

Seems simple, right? Ask someone if they have the right tool for the job.

How many times do we become so used to doing our own thing and relying on ourselves that we don’t invest in the right tools to efficiently achieve our business goals?  As a business grows, having the right team in place with members who have the right tool for each job becomes vital.  

In a start-up business, the entrepreneur is often a one-man band.  He or she does all the selling, the accounting, the strategizing, the marketing, the hiring—and even writes the checks.  Once the business starts to grow, original owners find themselves desperately trying to hang on to all of the responsibilities even though it is an impossible task.  When business owners are unable to transition their roles from do-it-all heroes to CEOs, the business falters and often times ends up with severe process problems that affect cash flow and growth—to the point of putting the business at risk.  

Malcolm Forbes famously cautioned, “Never hire someone who knows less than you do about what he’s hired to do.” Owners need to take a personal inventory, a significant introspective look, to determine their own personality type with their own strengths and weaknesses. Business success comes with the owners’ recognition of the tools they themselves bring to the table—along with the tools they are missing. Then—hire employees whose strengths are found in your own weak areas.

Here is A brief description of the toolbox of a business destined to maintain efficiency and growth: 

The Boss

You must be forward-thinking. A thorough expertise in the business is not sufficient. The CEO must be enterprising to create growth. Being able to forecast lows and highs in revenue allows a business to contract when necessary but also to seize new opportunities.  You must delegate. Businesses stagnate when a CEO cannot or will not delegate. Replace the Superman model with the model of the Seven Dwarfs each dwarf busily working to accomplish the overall goal.  Ultimately, the CEO cannot be slow to make decisions or constantly second guessing the decisions made.  Make a decision with the information you have at the time and move on. If the strategy needs to be changed down the road, change it.

The Generators

Don’t forget what brings in the money: revenue generators.  Long-term growth requires recurring generation for the long haul. Sometimes, the founder is more talented at generating revenue than at running the business.  As an owner, do what you are best at—and once you find your revenue generators, let them do what they are best at. Remember, however, that a dollar is not revenue until it is in the door.  The CEO must be cognizant of how much is being spent to generate each dollar. This is where the Cost Controllers come in.

The Cost Controllers

Have the penny pinchers watch the books but not so much the long-term strategy.  Every business needs someone who looks at every penny and questions why that penny is spent.  An employee who questions expenses is invaluable in preventing bloating overhead. The CEO, with high-level employees, should be the forward-thinker and work closely with the penny pinchers to evaluate the feasibility of future strategies. 

The “i” Dotters and “t” Crossers

Find the “detail person” to keep everyone on track.  Every business needs someone to make sure every contract is signed and all the details of that contract are filled in.  These people are critical as a business grows. If practices are disorganized or unthorough, costly mistakes—even lawsuits--ensue because key documents have been executed incorrectly or deadlines have been missed.

The Nail Drivers

Don’t ignore the workers who produce the product.  If the product quantity drops off, it doesn’t matter how good your CEO or sales team is. If the product quality drops off, it doesn’t matter how good your CEO or sales team is. 

There it is. A pretty short list of tools. What we have seen in this discussion, is that you must recognize and respect the strength of the business’s team. Play to the talents and strengths of each team member. Listen to what they have to say. And delegate the work.