Creating a meaningful company is a challenge and choice. Creating a meaningful life is more of a challenge.

Two webinar attendees asked a similar question:

M asked, “Does leadership’s key apply to small businesses with less than five employees?”

B asked, “How do I lead if I'm a solopreneur?”

 

I love these two questions.

It gets to the core of success in life and business.

Creating a meaningful company is a challenge and choice. Creating a meaningful life is more of a challenge.

 

No matter how many employees you have or if you are a solopreneur, you will make choices.   

 

I have shared with you: "What does it take to be a leader and grow a great company?
One that is meaningful to the client, to the employees, to the community, to your family, and you, the owner.

A leader transforms from a worker-owner to a mentor and teacher to their employees with a Value Statement.

A leader creates and leads the organization to a future vision with a Strategic Objective.

A leader will develop and mentor the culture through the values that come from their Primary Aims.

 

What kind of leader will you be?

When do you start this journey to become this leader?

It starts with you making those choices.

 

 

A meaningful company, for me, feeds the aims of my life.

These are the questions that prompted me to make a choice.

I can:

Command and control everyone, or I can create a collaboration.

Work harder and harder, or I can become a coach and mentor.

Be overwhelmed with doing everything or have team intelligence.

I can choose more time in the business or choose to give my family my attention and focus. 

 

What kind of leader did I want to be for those who worked so hard for me? 

I do not allow my company to run and work me into the grave.

I stepped into my leadership role and ran a company that truly supports my employees and their families. 

 

The rewards are immeasurable to my family, my children, me, and to my spouse. 

Immeasurable to the people that I touch in my organization.

Your journey to becoming a successful leader starts when you make that choice.

 

M and B asked:

M asked, “Does leadership’s key apply to small businesses with less than five employees?”

B asked, “How do I lead if I'm a solopreneur?”

 

I responded:  

Hi M,

Excellent question.

Does this apply to small businesses with less than five employees?

 

Hi B,

Your question:

How do I lead if I'm a solopreneur? 

I do have some contract employees, 

but definitely not the same as having employees within the business.

 

I look at my values.

Values are what turn into your Culture. 

When I coach, write, blog, teach, or market, I look to present this Culture to my clients and the world.

I want to have a company with values that shows people who I am.

 

I believe that when you, the owner, work with a client or with your employees,

Even if you have independent contractors, 

You have a way of being, of doing, of interacting.

You are presenting yourself and your company.

 

Your employees and independent contractors also touch the client and the world.

It is not just you touching the client or the outside world.

All of you are interacting with the clients and the world.

 

If you are looking to stay the same or to grow someday, 

The Culture that you present is going to be very important.

I don't think one or five or a hundred employees would change this.

 

I remember when my partner and I started with our small landscaping company.

We had maybe ten employees. 

There were four crews, with my partner and I each having one of the crews. 

 

I found that at the beginning of growing my company, employees came and went. 
I offered them money and work; they worked until they found better money or better work.

Fast forward to when our company offered an environment where they could thrive financially and professionally.
Living and working in this kind of thriving environment is where the magic happened.

We offered them a position. 
We offered them a future with a strategic objective of growth.

This strategy showed them the new positions of the future company.
We offered them a team value to show them we service the client as a team.

We offered an educational environment for professional growth. 

I found that by hiring employees to our company values, 
Orient them for three months to see if they are a good fit.
(Orientation was also a way for the employee to see if the company was the real McCoy with what we do and how we act.)
We had a better chance of keeping long-term employees.

The company was going places, shared responsibilities, and shared benefits.

Who would not want to be part of this?

 

We provide certain services to our clients.

We honed them to a science.

We strived to be the best in those services.

 

M and B, one of our service divisions, was snow removal.

We hired many independents for the production part.

We also hired arborist companies, architects, irrigation companies, growers, etc.

 

We did what we did: lawn maintenance, flower programs, Integrated Pest Management, people management, and apiary services, among others.

These were experts in areas that we were not.

But they had our values.

Example:

If a client asked us to meet them for a project and they had just a tiny window.

We would make sure to show up at that time. This immediate response was one of our values as a company.

If the service or project was to install a new irrigation system on the property, then:

We needed our independent contractors, the experts.

We needed the independent contract to also show up at that time.

The independent needed the exact value of "service the client, period."

If we had contractors that do not have this value, they would not be part of our network. 

We would look for equally great contractors but with our values.

 

I wanted to grow a great business.

Yet, I knew I wanted to be part of my family and triplet daughters.

I made that happen with much blood, sweat, and tears.

 

Systems run the company.

People ran the systems.

Leaders mentor people.

 

I don't think that a solopreneur or five or a hundred employees would change the new way your company exists.

So long story short, this applies to small businesses with less than five employees or a solopreneur.

 

M’s response:

Thanks for answering my question. I truly enjoyed the webinar. Have a great day.