Business Struggling? Stop Doing Favors!

Saturday, June 7th, 2008

I met with a new client yesterday. She’s a great lady with a great product. She’s got a good looking website, beautifully produced instructional DVDs and no sales.

To figure out why her products aren’t selling, I asked her a series of questions about what she’s been doing and what she thinks she needs to do. Part of the problem is that she’s overwhelmed by everything she needs to do. She’s trying to get sponsorship deals with some of the products she promotes in her DVD’s. She’s trying to get distribution deals in stores. She’s trying to write articles for print and online publications. And she knows there’s a lot more she needs to do to promote her business online.

But that’s only part of the problem. She knows she can’t do everything so she’s trying to delegate some of the work but her last two assistants have quit in the first week. This was intriguing to me. She seems easy to get along with and fun to work for so why are assistants quitting on her? As she told me about the people she’s hired, the reason became clear.

She, like many of us, likes to help people. Both of her assistants were acquaintances who were down on their luck and she saw that they needed some help. If someone would just give them a break (and some money), they could get back on their feet. They weren’t bringing many skills to the job but she was willing to train them so that she would have an assistant and they would have a new skill set.

Ahhh! The problem crystallizes.

She was making a mistake many small business owners make and can be fatal to the success of their business. I told her “I know this is going to sound harsh but you have to stop doing favors for people.” Her eyes got big and she slowly said “I have to stop doing favors for people?” I could tell it was a radically new concept to her so I explained.

Many of us – especially people with a background in service professions – get a boost from helping people. We like helping people. It makes us feel good. Many times that’s why we got into the business we did. The problem is that we forget to help our business first. When your business is new or at a growing stage, it needs all the help and support you can give it from people who are bringing the right skill set and mindset to the job. At this point your business is fragile and vulnerable. You wouldn’t let someone with the flu kiss your new born baby! So don’t give people without the right skills and attitude an important job in your business!

It’s great to want to help people. Personally, a strong motivator for me to be successful is so that I can donate time, money and expertise to the causes I care about. However, I won’t be able to do that if my business just bumps along. My business has to be strong before I can help other people improve their lives.

So think about it. Is there someone (or “someones”) you’re giving an important job that isn’t qualified or committed to doing the work? Are you spending time teaching someone how to do their job instead of doing yours? Are you trying to figure out how to motivate them so they will have the right work ethic?

Now is not the time to take risks with your business. When your business has exceeded your revenue goals, you can give them a chance with a job that is not going to seriously impact your bottom line. But until then, you need to quit being “the nice guy” and invite them to be successful elsewhere.

Tags: business strategy, service businesses, small business
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