By Tanja Yardley
If you’re considering taking the plunge into private practice management or if you’re already swimming in that deep sea, it’s essential that you consider the roles, relationships and opportunities that make up a successful small business.
In order for any business to thrive, there are 3 key parts of your business (or even three key parts of your personality if you are extremely lucky) that must be fully expressed and equally balanced – the entrepreneur, the manager and the technician.
Some of us are naturally more one than the other. Regardless, each role requires a different ‘business hat’ that produces very different outcomes. Understanding the shortfalls of each role can help you either, learn to wear a better fitting hat, or find someone with the right hat to work with.
Let’s explore more about these roles and why it matters.
1) The Entrepreneur
The entrepreneur is the person in your business, or part of you, that is visionary.
The Entrepreneur sees opportunity everywhere!
The Entrepreneur has dreams and aspirations that far exceed his or her current capabilities. The Entrepreneur craves change and variety. The Entrepreneur is often described as a whirlwind, who generates energy and chaos.
Yes, there is a sense of excitement, anticipation and essential future pacing in entrepreneurs. An energy that is often needed to propel a business forward and keep ahead of the competition through constant innovation.
However, there is a down side to the entrepreneur as well.
Many entrepreneurial–types have a very short attention span and their ability to follow through on those lofty future aspirations is sometimes questionable.
This is where the Manager comes in…
2) The Manager
The manager is the person in your business, or part of you, that is practical, organized, goal-directed and grounded.
The Entrepreneur sees the possibilities while the Manager sees the potential problems.
The Manager thrives on structure and accountability and has no problems with follow-through. Late at night while the Entrepreneur lays awake with ideas percolating, the Manager lays awake solving problems and designing systems.
As you can see, the two roles compliment each other. One inspiring ideas, the other creating a plan for how those ideas will be put into action.
A positive relationship between these two aspects of your business will ensure that innovation thrives, that infrastructure is created and that information is transferred to the people who can get the job done.
Speaking of people who can get the job done….
3) The Technician
The technician is the person in your business, or part of you, that could be described as a “doer.”
The technician is the person with the skills and abilities to manage the day-to-day business of the clinic, whether it is clerical work, customer service, or clinical treatment.
The technician is less pre-occupied by ideas and infrastructure. In many ways, the technicians are the backbone of the company. Without them, the aspirations of the Entrepreneur could not be expressed, and the work of the Manager becomes obsolete.
Balancing the Hats
For businesses to thrive, there must be a healthy balance of all three elements.
According to Michael Gerber, author of ‘The E-Myth Revisited,’ the typical business owner is only 10% Entrepreneur, 20% Manager and 70% Technician.
Gerber explains that this is one of the fundamental reasons people fail to grow successful small businesses. The book teaches people how to move out of the role of technician and into the role of the manager or entrepreneur. If you’ve never read the book, I recommend you do. It’s one of those business books that never becomes redundant, containing so much powerful insight.
However, regardless of the hat your wear, there are many ways we can get around our limitations. If this is true of you (that you’re 70% technician), there are some important things to consider.
- If you are not naturally Entrepreneurial, partner with someone who is, or seek advice.
- If you are naturally Entrepreneurial, heaven help you because you are least likely to succeed on your own, without a Manager to help you get things done.
- If you are a Technician by nature, think twice about starting your own business as you will become too bogged down in the day-to-day operations to succeed if you don’t recruit some Entrepreneurial and Manager-types.
- If you are one of those individuals naturally blessed with a healthy dose of all three, forge ahead, you are destined to succeed!
