Our business is chaotic! How do I get back in the driver’s seat?

Dear Aunty B,

We are a small business (two years old and 10 staff) and in the past few months have seen solid evidence of the recovery.

But suddenly we are in chaos. Clients are complaining about poor service, staff say they are overworked and last week we found there was a big hole in accounts (just a mistake thankfully not theft).

I appointed a general manager but that has made no difference. He just comes to me to ask what to do!

Every night I dream that I am clinging to the underside of a train as it hurtles through forests escaping Nazis (that could be my divorce though).

Yours CL,
Tas

Dear CL,

I know that dream. Yes it could well be you’re escaping a crazy spouse. But more likely you are trying to outrun chaos.

Think of it this way – the train is your business. It has outgrown the processes and systems that you put in place when starting up. If you have 10 staff, then you have hit that horrible stage of almost needing to reinvent the business. You need a better accountant, better IT, better telephones, better computers, better sales and complaints processes and so on.

What you need to do is map out your future business in five to seven years and work backwards.

What systems will you need in place to support a business that size?

Many entrepreneurs in your position say the best thing they did was to bring in people who had experience in larger companies. It is uncomfortable at first because your original staff will not want things to change. But change they must, so you can stop clinging to the underside of the train and go and sit in the driver’s seat!

Good luck,
Your Aunty B

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