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That’s My Opinion By Ron Sturgeon rons@rdsinvestments.com
Tools for Success – Hire Smart
started with nothing and didn’t get to go to college, so I know you can achieve maximum success regardless of your level of education. Here are a few things I know to do to achieve success! You should surround yourself with people who are smarter than you are. Being successful in business takes brains. No doubt that you are smarter than some of the people who work for you. However, if you are always the smartest one in the room, you need to do a better job hiring. The person in the engine room of the ship knows the engine inside and out, but he reports to the captain. Do you really think the ship would run as well if the cap- tain spent all of his time in the engine room? The captain needs to delegate and direct a team of people competent in their specialties.
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In the consulting I do with small busi- ness owners, I find that finance is an area that owners often do not turn over to the right level person soon enough. For example, if your salvage operation is sell- ing more than 1.5 to 2 million, you should upgrade from a bookkeeper to a comptroller-level finance person. When I reached that level of sales, I made a change. It cost me $20,000 more per year to get a Comptroller who had financial skills that neither the book- keeper nor I had. Yet, she showed me ways to lower costs, increase sales, and streamline my operations. I recovered the full increase in salary in two months. Surround yourself with people who will do things that you won’t. Sometimes, a longtime employee needs to be let go. Some owners can’t do it, even when every- one involved would be better off for it. If you can’t fire, make sure you have some- one working for you who can and will let a person go at your direction. Surround yourself with people that will do things you can’t. I am not a web designer, but I have a very good under- standing of internet marketing. It would
24 Automotive Recycling | July-August 2015
Do you really think the ship would run as well if the captain spent all of his time in the engine room?
be foolish for me to spend time trying to do my own web development and design work. I hire it out because I know people who do it much better and much faster than I ever could. Don’t be afraid to hire smart people to do what you can’t. Surround yourself with people that can do things that you shouldn’t. I have started and grown many businesses. One of the reasons that I have done so well is because of what I didn’t do. My greatest talents are in strategic planning, market- ing, and managing with metrics. At the start of an enterprise, you may wear many hats, but the sooner you can give the less important tasks away and focus on your strengths, the quicker you will be able to make your business grow. Should you
really be ordering the office supplies? Make sure you put your time to its high- est and best use. Yes, you will have to tolerate some medi- ocrity to grow. The first and second time a new person takes over a task, he or she may not do it as well as you do. Let them learn. Give them a little mentoring. Remember only you can make business
great!
Ron Sturgeon, an author and founder of Mr. Mission Possible small business consulting, www.autosalvageconsultant.com, combines over 35 years of entrepreneurship with exten- sive experience in consulting, speaking, and
business writing. Ron shares his expertise in strategic plan- ning, capitalization, compensation, growing market share providing field-proven, high-profit best practices.