Are you an early stage or start-up small business entrepreneur who’s so busy you’re running around trying to do ten jobs at once? Are you running out of time everyday and can’t seem to get caught up? Let’s discuss how an operations manager can make all the difference towards the success of your business.
“Operations Manager.” The title sounds like something that is only suited for a large corporation. No one really considers that there might be a need to staff for this position as soon as you’ve decided on your business idea, but frankly, it’s an essential part of running your own business. As the entrepreneur, the feeling is going to be that you need to do everything yourself as the business ramps up and gets underway after funding. Your fingers need to be in every transaction and every phone call needs to have your initials next to the schedule. In some ways, this is true. You should involve yourself with the business as it ramps up so that you are aware of what’s happening and you are taking responsibility for the direction. You should also begin the act of staffing your business and there’s no better way to do that than the hiring of a competent and qualified operations manager to start handling the small day-to-day decisions for you while you handle the business itself.
The position of Operations Manager is defined as, “[being] concerned with managing the process that converts inputs (in the forms of materials, labor and energy) into outputs (in the form of goods and services).” This position generally translates to having someone whose job it is to make sure the day-to-day menial tasks of the business are run smoothly and make sure that the owner isn’t prone to micromanagement and spreading themselves too thin. Deeming someone suitable for this role is daunting, but can usually be made slightly easier by following these requirements:
*Experience in the field: You want to have someone working with you who has a strong familiarity with the type of industry you’re embarking on. This could lead to them having contacts in the field, personal experience with trouble shooting for this particular industry, or maybe just the general confidence from familiarity.
*Don’t work with friends/family: We all want a familiar hand working next to us when we’re starting out, but once you’ve gotten to the point of staffing, putting someone in the position of operations who has close ties to you is not going to pan out well. You have to be able to trust that this person is directly under you in terms of management hierarchy and willing to take orders and responsibility for the failures of others. Having a personal history with that person tends to be counter-productive to that goal.
*How to read resumes: Someone with previous experience under the title of “operations manager” might not have all of the skills you need for your particular venture. Look for skills that show experience dealing with vendors, managing workflow and employees, and taking initiative regarding trouble-shooting.
Again, these are just key points to keep in mind for when you’re starting up your business and staffing this position. People tend to forget that it’s important to have an operations manager of some kind in their company and that the position should be manned by an individual who has the required qualities required for the position.
