Big Thinking for Small Business and Nonprofits

Just because you're a small business or a small nonprofit organization, you can't be thinking big. I love Michael Gerber's The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It. He talks about a woman who bakes wonderful pies and starts a business selling her terrific pies. Unfortunately, she has been sucked in by the Entrepreneurial Myth and doesn't understand the complexities that go into launching a small business.

Like the woman in Michael Gerber's book, you need to understand that though you're a solo-preneur or have just a small team, your organizational chart looks similar to those of the big guys like Microsoft and Boeing. The only difference is instead of having 4,000 people to fill in the organizational chart, your name is filling in each of the slots. Even if you don't have a team member with the title of "Chief Financial Officer," someone is responsible for -- or irresponsible with -- your finances.

If you have launched a new business or are developing a nonprofit organization, I urge you to spend 20% of your time working on your business, not in it. That means, instead of working the register, baking pies, or making introductory phone calls, use that time to step outside of the day-to-day operations and think strategically. Is what you're doing bringing you the best return on your investment? Are you staying on track to fulfill your vision? What new products, services, and outreach can you be doing to increase cash flow, leverage opportunities, and improve efficiencies?

Spending time each week to focus on the strategic side of your business will help you keep the big picture in mind and make better decisions to improve your bottom line. If you lose sight of these and other key strategic questions, you will find yourself off track and missing the mark on the entire reason you started the organization in the first place.

If you need help setting aside time to work on your business instead of in your business, I encourage you to sign up for one of our Strategy String workshops during small business month. If you prefer one-on-one conversations for your business, drop me a line and ask me about ConsulCoaching and Advisory Sessions.