Running a small business is easy. Having a small business as an absentee owner is a piece of cake. The employees can operate the business without adult, i.e. owner, supervision.
The above are all myths of small business and here’s an example:
In the mid-1990’s at a Chamber of Commerce meeting I met the owner of a new auto service center in Kirkland. We hit it off, started taking our cars there (as did numerous family members and friends), got great service, honest pricing, etc. They did little things right like saying you’ll need brakes in about six months versus wanting to do them immediately. Or giving the car a once-over look for no charge.
Unfortunately, the owner died a couple years ago. His wife sold the business to a technology executive who bought it as a passive investment. I hope the wife got paid in full at closing.
We started noticing little things like the phone not being answered and messages not returned. Our only needs were oil changes, the (recently promoted) service manager knew us, and all was good (for us). But obviously not for other customers and definitely not for the employees. It went from a family-business culture to one where the manager said to my wife, “It’s now just a job. I work my hours and go home.”
Guess what? Now the phone isn’t answered at all, the blinds are down, and the doors are locked. About five years ago I started using the term “adult supervision” to describe what an owner needs to bring to the business. This business used to have adult supervision and thus the employees were happy, the customers were happy, and the business thrived.
Don’t think this only applies to very small, consumer businesses like a garage. I’ve seen business with sales of $5-15 million suffer similar issues when the owner decided to take his or her eye off the ball, spend more time vacationing than working, or just clipped coupons (taking a huge salary or distribution as the business grew stagnate).
“The universe if full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.” (Author) Eden Phillpotts
