Entrepreneur to Manager

Everyone had to start somewhere and that includes well known entrepreneurs such as Bobby and Sahar Hashemi of Coffee Republic, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Sir Alan Sugar, and Sir Richard Branson. There are many challenges which face the one man band who has reached a point of company growth where it has become necessary to employ his or her first member of staff. It can be a challenging time for business owners.

Chris Travis, chief executive, of Enterprise North East Trust (Enterprise) advises entrepreneurs to think and plan carefully before taking the first steps to becoming a manager.

“You may be excellent at running your business, but managing an employee for the first time is completely different to managing yourself. It is worth bearing in mind that as an entrepreneur, when you set up the business you had supreme confidence in your abilities and a true passion for your project. You expected to put in long hours to ensure the business got off the ground. However, when you employ someone to assist you in the running of your company you have to be realistic in your expectations.”

Enterprise offers support and advice to small and medium sized companies throughout the North East and its advisers have assisted many to go from entrepreneur to manager.   Chris at Enterprise advises, “Making the transition from entrepreneur to manager is a challenging prospect. By adhering to a few simple guidelines you can ensure that in time, your new employee could become your most valuable company asset.”

What can you afford?
It is likely that the initial budget you allocate for employing a new member of staff will be relatively modest. Whilst this budget won’t buy you experience it will buy you an investment if you plan ahead.

At this stage, it is important to recognise that any initial savings you anticipated making by appointing an inexperienced employee will incur incidental expense in the form of your time.

“Many large corporations prefer candidates with experience as a pre requisite whereas a candidate with limited experience can be an advantage to an entrepreneur.” Chris points out, “It allows managers the opportunity to mould the employee to the needs of their company.”

Delegation’s The Name of the Game
It is a common misconception that appointing a new employee will immediately free up some of your time when the reality is often quite the opposite. Prior to appointing a new employee you probably oversaw everything from organising the refuse collection to drawing up confidential client contracts. Now you will have to decide which activities to delegate. If this is the case then you are the only person who can take steps to alter the status quo. You will have to plan ahead which activities and projects you will delegate and how you will expect to be kept up to date on progress. “If you don’t spend time to plan this, you may be in the position of ‘having a dog and barking yourself’,” adds Chris.

Employees Are People Too!
Your new employee will be key to your business, but you have to remember that whilst you as the owner of the business gives your all to the ‘cause’ your new start will ‘have a life’ outside the workplace.

Chris explains, “An equally important but perhaps less publicised aspect of becoming a manager is the time you invest in pastoral care. As a manager you have a vested responsibility to your employee to support them through times of personal crisis. Sometimes all that is needed is five minutes of your time, or understanding about being flexible to avoid a high staff turnover.” 

How should you approach working together?
It is not surprising that you may find it difficult to adjust to working alongside each other. For many entrepreneurs the only social interaction in an average working day is often with your suppliers and clients. Remember to take the time to explain what you are doing and why you are doing it so next time your employee can do it without constant supervision.

Common characteristics of entrepreneurs are said to be that they are headstrong and risk takers but are not always very easy to work with. Recognise your own strengths and weaknesses before you are quick to judge those of your employee. This will help you identify where potential conflicts are likely to occur so you can take steps to avoid them in future. The workplace is not somewhere to hold grudges or let minor disagreements escalate into larger issues.

Chris suggests, “It is important to remember you are not alone – look for networking events where you can meet other entrepreneurs facing similar challenges.”

Learning to trust each other
Just as any relationship needs space to breathe so to must a business relationship; otherwise you run the risk of stifling your employee. This can be hard since the business is your baby and in the past, as the only company decision maker, if mistakes were made you only had yourself to blame.

“Learn to delegate effectively and try to vary their work load. Employees will soon become restless and demotivated if they don’t feel they are being given relevant tasks. Challenge your employee by testing them with more responsibility and encourage any creative input they may have and you will soon gain their respect,” recommends Chris.

Client contact
Learning to utilise the core competencies of your staff is arguably one of the more complex challenges you will face as a new manager. It can be difficult to get clients who are used to talking to the ‘organ grinder and not the monkey’ to accept talking to another 'green' member of staff. Unless you take steps to avoid this situation you could find yourself even busier than you were before you employed staff.

“Try to include your new start in meetings with the client so you can aid the transition process. Remember to praise the abilities of your employee in the presence of the client to install trust. This symbiotic relationship between the manager, employee and client is perhaps the ultimate challenge but by following these steps outlined you will be prepared to face the challenges head on.”

Enterprise delivers business support and advice through the Business Gateway service which is supported by Scottish Enterprise.  Telephone 01224 289725 for any aspect of business advice or visit www.enetrust.com.

Ends

Picture Caption: Chris Travis, chief executive, of Enterprise North East Trust (Enterprise) advises entrepreneurs to think and plan carefully before taking the first steps to becoming a manager. “When you employ someone to assist you in the running of your company you have to be realistic in your expectations.”

For further information contact:
Lyndsay Brackenbury
Tricker PR
9 Victoria Street
Aberdeen
Telephone  01224 646491
Direct Line 01224 654086
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Email  lbrackenbury@trickerpr.com