As entrepreneurs and owners of small businesses grow and develop their business, they tend to forget that they need to grow and develop their leadership skills too!

With the growth of their business, it becomes necessary to start recruiting people and it is crucial that the owner of small businesses and entrepreneurs learn leadership, people management and relationship building skills at an early stage of recruitment.

At the initial stages, it is not uncommon that entrepreneurs and business owners have to manage the running of their business on their own or with the help of family and friends. They end up wearing several hats. But, when the business starts to grow and recruitment is imminent, then the shape of managing the business changes and it is crucial that entrepreneurs and owners learn how to create a culture of empowerment where the growth of the business becomes sustainable. This may mean that the friends and family members who were helping out may now need to be paid employees. This changes the relationship and the management of this becomes vital. The entrepreneur and the business owner suddenly find themselves in leadership positions but without the leadership skills.

One such owner said to me, ‘I have never managed people, I have no idea what it means to lead, to be a leader or to have a human resource department!’ He was not expecting to be in such a situation as a result of his successful business growth! Hence, growth and sustainability must be a planned strategy with proper leadership.

Recognising the need to fill this gap that exists in practice with regards to leadership skills, I have developed a tool which can enable entrepreneurs and small business owners to successfully learn, empower and enhance their leadership skills which will enable them to empower and bring out the potential of their employees. This, in turn, will help them to protect and sustain their business.

In 2020, the wakeup call for entrepreneurs and owners of small businesses is to remember that they are not just the boss or owner of their business, they need to be Leaders of their business too!

Thank you for reading, until the next #HuqPosts …

#entrepreneur #leaders #leadership #empowerothers #empoweryourself #empowering #LinkedInforSmallBusiness

© Dr Rozana Huq, January 2020

http://www.rozanahuq.com