Small business fact? Few people have been trained to run a business properly. The reality is that most come from a specific technical area of expertise, such as marketing, sales or design, and haven’t had exposure on how to holistically and strategically manage a business. This is compounded if you have worked for a large business and your role has meant you’ve operated as a small cog in a large wheel, with limited exposure to how senior management think, act and manage strategically.

Humans are naturally inclined to revert to their comfort zone as opposed to stepping into the unknown. Often, small business owners have a tragic tendency to retreat back into the thing they feel certain they know how to do well - the technical work. Focusing on what you’re good at, is a good thing, right? Well...yes, when you’re talking about aligning business strategy to what your business is best at.  Apple is awesome at UX and Hardware design, Ikea at modular furniture design and retail. But, conversely, try Colgate and food. It’s questionable.

If a business owner focuses on applying their technical skills and neglects strategic and operational management tasks, the business has a fair chance of becoming a sad statistic - one of the many businesses that go out of business - and usually within the first couple of years of launching.

As an Advisor to start-ups, I see a pattern of imbalance repeatedly; across well-funded or boot-strapped businesses, e-commerce, real estate or education businesses and also high-growth or mature businesses. Commonly, the CEO is an impressive and masterful salesperson, marketer or designer and their organisations are shaped in their image. For example, a client of mine (who is a charismatic and well-networked salesman), has gained investment and partnerships through these networks. His belief system and view on the business world is that big deals drive companies forward and face-to-face selling is the way to win. Undoubtedly, this has helped his business get to where it is. But now, as a mature larger business with more employees, growth has stalled, and scaling has proven challenging. Why? There is a lack of strategy and focus on key metrics, combined with a belief that marketing is ineffective and an over-reliance on face-to-face sales.

Many businesses have strong biceps and little legs, they boss some areas and are meek in others. How balanced is your business? Are you a technician, or a strategic and operational leader?

Monitoring performance, long-term planning, strategic planning, focused meetings and reviews may not be sexy, particularly if you’re a creative type, but these things set you up for success. The cliché “not planning is planning to fail”, is not exactly a profound or abstract idea, however my mind boggles at the amount of businesses I work with that do zero planning. When training for a marathon, most runners institute a plan to increase their running distance over the months leading up to the race and track their heart rate and speed in real time. The reason runners do this is because setting targets that grow incrementally over time is a way to increase their chance of finishing the 42km race. Simply going for runs and hoping that your fitness grows over time will work for some people, but the majority of us mere mortals need a focused plan.

Like most things in life, self-realisation is the first step to change. Focusing on doing the basics right, process consistency and disciplined decision-making will keep your employees focused, alleviate stress and improve performance.

James Malcolm is the founder of CFOs on demand. You can connect with him at his website or LinkedIn. CFOs on demand offers advisory and outsourced CFO services to start-ups and small-medium businesses. Contact James for a free consultation.