"How to use levers for a business to grow the business"
1.INTRODUCTION
Sri Lankan businesses seems not growing, majority can be seen struggling or not moving forward. Once a businessman start up the business, they grow the business to the medium scale. There are many skilled businessmen who can be seen in the market. They start up the business and keep growing the business, but cannot make it a larger scale business. This article addres this issue.
2.ENTREPRENEURIAL MIND MYTH
Majority of entrepreneurs believe he or she need to be in the business fulltime. Because building larger scale organization is unknown to them. They thought individually he needed to use his maximum potential. But they do not look at other employees potential. Therefore these entrepreneurs always keep things under their control without getting other employees involved. They use other employees for non-strategic activities and entrepreneur himself involved in strategic activities like handling cash, handling important customers and handling all major job tasks in the business. Because of this entrepreneurs always get exhausted in their capacity. Because they are really busy with a lot of activities, they do not have time to involve with new business development activities through product innovation and process innovation. This is the tragedy that happened to Sri Lankan business. Once we look into 99% of small and medium scale businesses in Sri Lanka, it is clearly visible that these business are run by the owner, wife, parents, brothers or sisters. If asked why they were not employing employees, the answer is, they cannot trust outsiders. They have lot of experiences about past employees misbehaviour. But the point is they are not aware about the answer for this, the answer is the concept call “leveraging”that comes under organization structuring.
3.WHAT IS APPLYING LEVERS FOR A BUSINESS
This is very simple but very strong fundamental that we have missed and forgotten. Think of a typical lever. We use levers to do things in our life. In its simplest form, to cut bread, we use knife, to travel we use car or bus, to carry things, we use bags, to protect eyes, we use sunglasses, to write we use pen. Just imagine a world without those tools. We may live but it is a difficulty life. We can talk to a person, and we can talk to a larger group with a louder voice but can we talk to millions of people likewise. We cannot. To to that we have to use some communication medium like TV, Radio, and Youtube, Facebook or any other tool. These tools are simply called levers. We use levers to leverage things. These levers minimize our effort.
Once a person learn how to use these levers, they will become unbelievable successful. All successful people have used levers in to their business and life. A person can carry 50kg at once but a truck can carry 5000kg at once. So here the truck is a leverage for the job. But here the problem is our business people tend to carry the lord by themselves without using truck or lorry or in other words they do not use levers for their work.
Will look at some example, at a retail outlet, cashier position is very important as it deals with finance. Entrepreneurs believe, it has to be directly managed by the business
owner or his parents. If they place an employee into that position, he may misuse money….that is what owner thinks. But just think bigger super market chains in Sri Lanka that included more than 300 outlets. How they manage those outlets without the owner. They have employed people and there are cash registers, CCTV cameras, Supervisors, financial statements are prepared, Auditors also there. All these mentioned things are about levers. Cash register is about lever, CCTV cameras are about levers, Supervisors are about levers and so on. For everything that you need to do you have to think smart and apply smart levers. Everyday worlds is moving forward with many sophisticated leverages.
SUMMERY
This article talks about a very powerful principle called leveraging. Many small and medium scale businesses are just struggling in those same level for over entire their lifespan. This happens due to one single reason. That is they are not aware about the principle called leveraging or how to use levers for their business strategic functions. This article simply talk about this leveraging fundamental.
But just think bigger super market chains in Sri Lanka that included more than 300 outlets. How they manage those outlets without the owner. They have employed people and there are cash registers, CCTV cameras, Supervisors, financial statements are prepared, Auditors also there. All these mentioned things are about levers. Cash register is about lever, CCTV cameras are about levers, Supervisors are about levers and so on.