Let’s begin by assuming you have encountered the common term ‘wearing many hats’
Essentially, the term means to take on varied and multiple responsibilities.
It is somewhat similar to ‘being a Jack of all trades’
Many business owners know all too well what it means to be wearing many hats.
The younger a business is, then the more likely it will be that the founders are actually wearing almost all of the hats.
Let’s take a quick look at the various hats that a small business owner often finds themselves wearing:
The CEO or Management Hat
The small business owner is the one who is in charge. In many cases, the desire to be the one in charge may be the very reason they started a business in the first place.
For goodness or worse, their decision is final.
The boss takes on the final responsibility for all decisions, and is in charge of driving the business in the directions that it needs to go.
The Head of Marketing Hat
A small business owner is generally in charge of their own advertising, website, social media and other marketing efforts.
The head of marketing must decide upon the best way to communicate the brand’s message and gain leads for the sales department to follow up with.
It doesn’t help that marketing itself is such a broad area, encompassing market research, brand development, digital communications, PR and so much more.
The Salesman Hat
When it comes to engaging a lead and closing a deal, it can be like a bit of an adventure.
Small business owners find themselves navigating a whole new side of the phone for sales inquiries.
Successful sales people have a raw tenacity and drive to keep pushing that is not often found in many others.
Human Resource Manager Hat
Only very large companies can have a dedicated HR department.
The small business owner often finds themselves having to manage to work contracts, wages/salaries, allowances and other regulations of an employee.
Given the growing recruitment industry, it is fair to say that selecting the best possible employee and then getting them up and ready to work is a very large task!
The Practitioner Hat
Your business is more than simply ‘being in business’, it is a brand you have created to sell a product or a service.
This is probably the most important hat that a business owner wears!
At the end of the day, the business is built around wearing this hat.
The Book Keeper Hat
You could have the best business model in the world, and if your books were not run well, you would still fail.
Having someone watching the inflow and outflow of money, and making sure that it is all recorded, is extremely important for any business’s health!
It can get exhausting wearing every hat for your business, especially knowing that each of the fields represented are a profession in and of their own!
As you grow as a business, you will gradually be able to find others to wear these hats for you.
Which hat do you think is the least fun to wear? Or the one you want to take off the soonest?
Some of you may have always thought sales and marketing were more or less the same thing, but we have news for you!
