I believe the mindset is, when you are working by yourself, you and you alone are responsible for everything that takes place or doesn't take place. Kinda obvious, huh ?? So, when a mistake is made, you can't blame anyone else, you know you fugged up. When someone calls you and says, you sure are hard to get a hold of...... you probably know why. Also, there will be much less waste and more production as you know what everything is worth and won't waste a single minute or drop of ink. Payroll, overhead and taxes will be less of a burden, huh ?? You can downsize, get rid of stuff and choose your customers. Raise your prices and become a little more independent. Name your price and hours........ and custom's.
Funny part is, if one knows how to delegate, you can do it on a larger scale and still make more money overall, then also please a larger amount of a customer base.
Some..... are cut out to be mechanics, workers, post hole diggers and so forth, while others are meant to be organizers, movers & shakers. Be honest with yourself and you can make a good decision on which way you want to go, or should go. Seven people producing in an 8 hour day is gonna be a lot more than one person who is chief cook and bottle washer, not to mention phone operator, waiter and hat check person. Then, go home and do the books. Yep, that's the way to create a business.
Keep your well oiled machine sleek and lean by cutting out all unnecessary things. Cut it so lean, it has to run 99% perfect or it will fail.
It's really all about if you set yourself up to fail or not. Sure, many people are going solo and very happy, but they are probably very disciplined. Don't procrastinate, don't ever show up late for meetings, always have the work done on time and most of all, have no outstanding invoices.... or bills of their own.
Personally, I was a worker and welcomed as much work as I could take on, but the workload dictated I needed more people to do things, cause I was working about 18 hour days. No time to do anything, but work. Started surrounding myself with good people and although they hafta be replaced of added to from time to time, I never wanted to go back to jut myself. I made good money on my own, but far-r-r more having good people around me. It took time learning to let go of certain aspects of the actual work and delegating more, but with some help form other good business people and friends, along with lessons learned the hard way, it became doable and now profitable.
People owning someone anything is ridiculous. You supply a place to work, a workload, you are the boss....... they must come up to your expectations and deliver or write them up and put them on notice. However, after a year, if you've kept them around without any serious talks, I still think they deserve a raise. If not, you would've fired their butt a long time ago. Your not being able to get them to do what you want, is your problem, not theirs. Again, learn to delegate.
