Those who own a business hold their peers in high regard. You might dislike someone personally, but give them a thumbs-up when it comes to running a company. Those who survived the recession deserve a special commendation. Only the native outsider thinks otherwise.
Having run a marketing services business for 35 years, I've had what seems an unusual opportunity of working closely with nearly 200 business owners, some for several decades. As time passed, I accumulated a wealth of impressions, which emerged as something of a Business Owner Profile. In summary, these people can be dogged, determined, creative, confident and surprisingly risk averse, as well as obstinate, ignorant, bull headed, and arrogant (to a fault). Yet, while others worry, they're out teeing off. While others see obstacles and even roadblocks, they visualize new paths.
There's far more than just figuring out what makes business owners tick. Figuring out how to go about doing business with them is a challenge. Frankly, some of them are worth avoiding. Here are a few characteristics of business owners that might be helpful when working with them:
• A strong need for achievement. Some (quite a few, actually) are so intertwined with their business that they become the de facto logo. Their picture is everywhere and on everything. Try to help them understand the importance of focusing on the customer - they might say it, but they don't get it. The business is their mirror image. More to the point, they are the business. They might even talk about having a "great team," but deep down inside, they know it wouldn't work without number one. For the past 50 years, a number of researchers have pointed out that entrepreneurial types have a need for achievement, which suggests that being "the point person" might not be ego driven, but a way to show the world what they've accomplished. So talking about their business is really talking about them.
• Driven by ideas, not risks. Contrary to popular opinion, most business owners aren't gamblers. In fact, research suggests that they neither seek nor run from risk. A smart, astute 19-year-old said he wanted to take over a faltering family business. Instead of selling it, his father gave him two years to turn around the business. Amazingly, he did just that - while going to college. As the young man tells the story, the possibility of failure didn't enter his mind. Quite the contrary, he analyzed the situation, identified what needed doing, and was confident that he could make it work. Some business owners who possess superior analytical skills can push everything else out of their mind, while pursuing an objective with the confidence that they can reach it. When you're working with people like this, it's best to focus on what they want to accomplish!
• An abhorrence for planning. For some business owners, it seems that planning is their enemy. It kills the spark, inhibits spontaneity, and takes the fun out of business. When someone puts a plan on the table, the owner might appear to embrace it - however, as those around soon learn, it never goes anywhere. Rather than a road map for helping everyone catch the vision and share in the dream, the owner sees the plan as a threat that drains the blood out of "a great idea" waiting to be born. No wonder that entrepreneurs often feel alone! One business owner wanted a marketing plan in the worst way. "We really need it," he said with passion. He devoted a lot of time and effort to developing and refining the plan. However, once it was accepted, that was the end. From then on, he was at the helm of the marketing boat.
• The staying-on-track problem. If there is one immutable rule in marketing, it's consistency, consistency, consistency. If that's true, far too many business owners missed the memo. They possess what one might call a "Mexican jumping bean" mentality. They get bored easily, so it's always on to the next thing. They tend to be idea people. They're always coming up with something new, which more often than not, is completely irrelevant and "off message." They're constantly changing the focus, although they see it as expanding on "the Vision." Although an entrepreneur is essential to founding a business, after the initial growth stage of perhaps eight years, a shift to a managerial style should occur if the company is to continue growing. This is another way of saying that someone needs to bring discipline and order to the business. Not surprisingly, those around the "Big Guy" may see it quite differently. To work successfully with a business owner, it's critical to know where the company is at the moment.
• "My way or the highway." Although entrepreneur-driven operations often possess a sense of excitement (or drama), everyone knows that criticizing the "Big Guy's" ideas is a huge mistake, perhaps akin to treason. On one occasion, the head of 400,000-member organization - the epitome of the "Big Guy" with an awesome title that reinforced it - asked me to prepare a mailing to the members about a credit card program he had just authorized. After reviewing the background materials, my marketing mind took over and I raised question about the validity of the project, which appeared to me to be flawed and destined for failure. Instantly, the client erupted from his chair (he was truly a big guy) and pounded his fist on the desk. "If you don't want to do it, I'll get someone who will," he stated with vigor. I dutifully did so. Nothing more was ever said even though the program failed, miserably.
• Little interest in the facts. On several occasions, we suggested to the head of another national organization that surveying his members could be an effective way to obtain feedback for designing programs and activities that they would want to embrace. Each time we brought it up, the head of the group, a bright guy, instantly dismissed surveying as "too expensive," an easy way to get it off the table quickly. "If I call eight or 10 key people, they'll tell me what we need to know," he said. At one point when the issue came up again, he acknowledged having "a difficult time with surveys." If business owners have a weak spot, this is it. They're ready to enter the fray armed with their intuition, self-confidence and persuasive powers and see gathering the facts as a needless delay. If you fall for that, there may be trouble ahead.
Conclusion:
It's second nature for business owners to be preoccupied with their company. It's part of them. They breathe life into the business and see it through troubled times and well-deserved successes. What business owners know best is their business, so it's understandable that the business is their primary perspective. When it comes down to it, their interest in the customer is figuring out how to get the order. Most business owners want to receive respect for running good operations. Unfortunately, at times they can be their own worst enemies by letting themselves interfere with the way they do business.