What makes being a business builder, considering all the stress, long hours and headaches associated with the job, worth it? At least partially, it is the freedom and ability to define the role you want to play in your own company.
Although your primary focus at first may be getting your organization off the ground, you will need to gradually extrapolate yourself from the lower-stratum, day-to-day duties in order to dedicate more time to the business functions that require a greater degree of skill. Consider your strategic vision for the company and what you will have to do to achieve that goal. Conduct a realistic assessment of what aspect(s) of the business you are best suited to manage, as well as those you most enjoy, and determine what functions you will be able to fit into your daily schedule.
Sometimes what you are capable of and what you like doing will not align. You may enjoy the sales side of operations and personally interacting with every client, but that will become infeasible as your company grows and higher-level issues demand your attention. However, you may be able to maintain a reduced involvement in your favorite functions by outlining who will report directly to you. For instance, if you have a passion for the marketing side of business but no time to execute the campaigns yourself, hire a marketing manager who can take your vision and put it into action.
As noted in The Entrepreneurial Journey, while there are four components to defining the roles of others, the only two you must consider about your own position in the business is its stratum (What level of capability and skill does it require? How far into the future do you look in your role?) and which functions you will fulfill yourself or delegate to others. Once you have determined this, you can map out every position in the company and take more control over how you are contributing to its success.
In the early days of entrepreneurship, you may be responsible for all aspects of operations, including accounting, sales and marketing. As you transform your company into an organization, you will have to be more specific about what place in the hierarchy you wish to occupy and how you want that to relate to other employees’ positions.
