As a small business owner, you probably feel like you have to do it all. After all, you went into business because you are good at what you do. The problem comes when you get in the way of letting your employees do what they should be doing. What you need to be is a good leader, and let the rest happen.
As a small business owner, you should be a real manager. You should be putting systems into place that will make your business a success and mentoring the people you employ. You should not be supervising them.
If you hired a supervisor, then you should get rid of the position, because it isn’t doing your business any good. No matter what kind of supervisor they are, the mothering type or the super spy, they don’t add to the productivity of your business and usually drag down morale. The mothering type is the supervisor who becomes everyone’s best friend. They listen to all the complaints, do little about them, and commiserate. The super spy stands and watches over everyone, whether outwardly or subtly, and tracks their every move.
You would think either would be a good thing, but they aren’t. The super spy makes everyone miserable and feel mistrusted and the mothering type gets nothing accomplished with the complaints. What you really need is for your employees to care about your business as much as you do.
To do that you need to be a real manager. Show your staff how passionate you are about your business and how much you trust them to do their jobs. Make work the place they want to be. Have rules and enforce them across the board. Reward hard work. Be the kind of real manager you would want to work for, and then watch your business grow in ways you couldn’t have imagined!