Business Owner Duties and Responsibilities

A business owner, along with all other company employees, is, of course, part of a group. Every group member fulfills his own particular responsibility as a salesperson, an accountant, a process engineer, etc. An organization is a system where its members perform specific functions. A salesperson works with customers; an accountant handles financial transactions and maintains records; an engineer develops new processes and monitors their compliance. In this system, the owner plays a special role. His function is to establish goals that will unite the entire group. But in this capacity, he may encounter a trap that is easy to fall into.

As I discussed in the previous chapter, every person has his or her own individual goals. Only people completely disappointed in life do not have goals. Every salesperson and accountant dreams of a new house, a car, a cruise, a special gift for a loved one, and a business owner is no exception. Just like the others, he has his own personal goals that he dreams of achieving. He dreams about amassing personal wealth, about houses and cars, about comfort and vacations, and about opportunities to do something creative. There are as many goals as there are different kinds of people. And the more capable a person is, the more individualistic his or her aspirations will be.

At the same time, the owner is the only person in the company who is responsible for establishing goals for the entire group. He is the only one whose function it is to establish these goals, and then direct the group’s attention to them. That is where the catch is. The owner can confuse his or her personal goals and dreams with the business’s goals and purposes.

Interacting with many business owners, I occasionally meet people who say, “The goal of my company is to make money, increase assets and the company’s market value.” These people have no idea that they are not talking about the company’s goals, but about their personal ones. The owner has a goal of increasing the company’s value and wants his or her “baby” to continually grow. This point of view could be compared to that of a father who wants his child’s only goal to be to serve his parent. This is a completely unnatural point of view. Of course, a child should bring his parents joy, but it should be the joy of his own successes, achievements, and victories on the way to his individual goals. When the owner of a company says that the company’s goal is “to increase the company’s value,” he really means, “My goal is to become rich.” He is not talking about the group’s goal, but about his personal one. A group’s goal cannot be someone’s dream of becoming happy and rich.

Once, during a workshop, the owner of a roofing materials manufacturing and retailing business approached me. His company employed around fifty people. They manufactured copper shingles, gutters, and other parts for copper roofing. Our conversation went as follows.

“Our company manufactures a good product and our customers are happy. It is certainly not a cheap product, but the customers who know us usually thank us for our services. But there’s one issue I still can’t understand. When I start my workday, I’m full of energy. I meet with the customers and manage my employees. The window of my office faces the sales department, and since I usually arrive at the office earlier than everybody else, I get to observe my employees as they come in. You know, we try to take care of our employees. Their salaries are high and the working conditions are good, but when they get to work, they look like they have been working hard all night long and can’t wait to finally get some rest. They barely move. And unless they get enough coffee, they cannot even start working. Why is it this way? I am full of energy and desire to work, but why aren’t they?”

“What is the main goal of your business?” I asked him.

“What goal? It is to make money for me, of course!”

“Imagine you just joined a good company as a salesperson. During the orientation period, you are told, ‘The goal of our company is to make another million dollars for the owner!’ Would that inspire you?”

“No. I get it,” he said after giving it some thought.

When the company owner confuses his personal goals with the goals of the company, he creates goals for the company that do not motivate his employees. Imagine a company where during corporate events it is announced, “Our goal is to make our owner rich!” It doesn’t seem as if anyone would honestly want to put any effort into achieving this goal. Only when employees want to achieve the company’s goals will you see the spark in their eyes and will they be full of energy and creativity. This does not mean that when you establish goals for the entire group that you must renounce your personal goals. Giving up your own goals can lead to a complete lack of joy and pleasure for you. I personally think that a miserable person will not be able to be particularly useful to other people. Keep your goals. Just take care not to confuse them with the goals you establish for your company.

Think big. Don’t waste your time on pseudo goals like “making more money,” “benefiting everybody,” or even “becoming number one in the industry.” Assess what the company can realistically achieve in the long run. If you manufacture furniture, maybe your goal would be “providing comfort and design for people’s lives.” If you are a grocery wholesaler, perhaps it would be “creating high-quality living standards for a wide range of people by providing a fresh and premium-quality range of grocery items.” Of course, these goals need to reflect your own aspirations and talents. One owner will start a company to bring the latest technology to the market. Another owner will start a company to provide satisfying and cheerful service. Ever since he started walking, my nephew, Vasiliy, has amazed the people around him with one particular habit: He cannot walk past an excavator, truck, crane, or tractor without stopping to admire it. The boy can just stand there and admire such machines, and totally just enjoy them. As you can imagine, his mother does not share his fascination, and every time he stops to gaze, she tries to pull him away. What kind of company will he start when he grows up? I don’t know, but I do know one thing for sure: If he does become an owner of a company that produces construction machinery, he will be doing what he likes best. What goals will he establish for the company? Perhaps they will be “to provide construction workers with reliable and efficient machinery and to contribute to the prosperity of the construction industry.” Companies’ goals are distinct and as individual as their owners.

Trying to set up a goal based on the individual goals of the group members is also a common mistake made by business owners. The owner needs to be aware that as the founder, as well as a member of the group, he performs a very specific function: He forms the goal for the entire group. An example of this mistake would be to say, “Our company’s goal is to provide customers with a quality product, increase owners’ equity, and create a decent standard of living for our employees.” This is not a goal. It is merely an attempt to please everyone who has something to do with the company—employees, owners, and customers. And this attempt to please is the exact opposite of the manifestation of individuality. The problem of formulating the goal to appease everyone ends up with people knowing that it doesn’t reflect the company’s true purpose.

I am genuinely surprised by the results when seemingly clever consultants brainstorm the main goal and purpose of a company. They come up with these monstrous ideas that do not inspire anyone—not the managers, owners, or employees. Have some fun by reading the goals and mission statements of some of these various companies online.

Occasionally, I help the owners create mission statements for their companies. I first ask them questions that relate to the purpose of the company. I ask what the initial business idea was and whether it had any competitive advantage that distinguished the company from its competitors. I ask the owner to describe the company’s operations in a few words. When the purpose is clear, I help him or her state the main goal by asking questions about what would change in the company’s external environment if it successfully carried out its purpose. Why do I start with the purpose? I do this because the purpose is more concrete to people, as it will determine the company’s course of action. The main goal, however, is less apparent, though in essence it is predetermined by the purpose.

When you create the main goal of the group, don’t think about whether employees will like it. The most important thing it should do is inspire. Look around at the leaders of some outstanding companies. As a rule, they dedicate their whole lives to doing their favorite job. They have enough courage to do what inspires them. And they create the main goals that attract the right people to their companies and encourage them to stay.