So, What is Your Job?

Congratulations you are the boss! I guess that you know what you have to do? But what does it actually say that you have to do in your job description? I'll bet a penny to a pound that you don't have a job description – you’ll have a job title – and your team will call you the boss. As a small business owner I know that you'll end up doing everything in the business.

You'll be the leader, funder, manager, director, referee, salesman, finance director, cleaner, car washer, motivator, disciplinarian, rule setter, teacher, coach, press guru, fire fighter, problem solver, bookkeeper and problem solver to name just a few.

If you are a solopreneur then all of these jobs will have to land in your lap. But you mustn't forget your own role and how much you cost, and can add value to, the business. Think of yourself as a £100,000 a year salary - that's £55 an hour. That's an expensive resource to be doing the cleaning, packaging, delivery driving, all the bookkeeping, etc. Nevertheless, if it is just you in the business, you can still outsource some activities which will save you money – bookkeeping, payroll and cleaning are good examples.

As the business grows you will have to start recruiting a team to help you run the business. A great way to determine what type of person you're looking for is to be very clear about what their role will be. This might change; say in six months’ time, as you recruit even more staff.

Many of you will just go ahead and construct an organisation chart based on people and job titles. Stop! An organisation chart is a great tool to use but construct it with the job roles in mind. List out everything that needs to be achieved in the business and then allocate them into natural groupings. Then you can post these roles into the organisation chart. Once you are happy with the structure you can write the job description and start recruiting.

Reviewing the role chart at each growth stage of your business is a great habit to get into.  As a result, every time you are recruiting new employees you will be clear about what you want them to achieve. And as an added bonus everyone in the business will also be clear about who does what.

There is no doubt that at day one of your business you will end up wearing all of the hats, but as your business grows you will be able to pass those hats on to your new team.