In my work I meet many small business owners (SBOs) who are very skilled at their crafts but who lack a broad understanding of how to build and operate a business. Consequently, their companies are profitable enough to remain open, but do not generate a livable income. Often, a business cannot survive long enough for its owner to gain necessary skills by returning to school or attending seminars.

As a performance consultant, I train owners how to run a business and to identify and correct the limiting factors that have been built into the company.

A two-pronged approach

A formal on-the-job training program delivered in the form of one-on-one mentoring revolves around the five disciplines of time, finances, management, marketing and sales, and human resources. During these sessions, my goal is to learn what my client thinks and believes in these areas. This yields valuable insight into why the business is run the way it is.

Simultaneously, I take a human performance improvement approach to the entire business. This lets me evaluate the performance of all the component parts that impact the business success.

Mentoring methodology

During the intense mentoring experience, my job as performance consultant is to act as a subject matter expert and to provide knowledge for mentoring the owner.

Time. The focus here is on the SBO's current role and what it should be. How should the owner spend their time? What tasks should they be doing, and what should they delegate to staff members or perhaps outsource altogether?

Finances. Next I work with the SBO to create operating budgets and teach the owner to allocate funds to support business objectives. We identify areas of financial concern and create plans for addressing them. After identifying key performance indicators, I teach the SBO how to use them to monitor and improve performance.

Management. SBOs need to know how to manage people, the operation, and the overall direction of the business. Management is divided into two categories: managing the present and managing the future. The goal is to educate the SBO so he knows what to do today to make the future more profitable.

Marketing and sales. Everything the business does to generate revenue is carefully scrutinized. I teach the SBO how to effectively market the business, turn opportunities into sales, and analyze every revenue opportunity.

Human resources. What is the right organizational structure for this specific business? What is the best strategy for aligning people with the company direction? Specific subjects addressed here include compensation, required skill sets, job structure, and staff planning. The goal is to help the SBO think of people in terms of talent instead of payroll dollars.

A crucial aspect of this intensive mentoring methodology is that it allows me to develop immediately applicable knowledge and provide invaluable feedback to the SBO.

Using HPI to develop solutions

Combining mentoring with HPI analysis ensures the fastest improvement in performance for both the SBO and the company. As a performance consultant, I conduct an analysis of each of the five disciplines listed above (time, financial, management, marketing and sales, and human resources), and the findings provide a basis for proposing solutions to the SBO. Solutions are then prioritized by balancing ease of implementation with those that will have the greatest impact.

It's important that the performance consultant and the SBO collaborate to design and develop the solutions. This collaboration deeply reinforces the SBO's learning and assures complete buy-in.

SBOs need to be the primary implementers of the solutions, however. My job is to orchestrate the process with the SBO from behind the scenes and play a supporting role on the implementation team. From the employee's perspective, the owner, not me, is the leader of the change. This preserves the owner's authority role and helps position them as leaders of the new reality.

Results

Using a comprehensive mentoring approach helps the SBO learn deeply and quickly, and this new knowledge can lead to solutions that are quick to implement. In addition, the SBO's self-esteem is preserved or even enhanced. This approach also creates a shared responsibility for results between the performance consultant and the SBO. The SBO champions each intervention, grows in experience and knowledge, and has the satisfaction of knowing they did it themselves. Perhaps the greatest benefit, however, is that the entire business improves and becomes better positioned for future success.