A few years ago I had a couple of health problems that meant I had to employ someone else to do my carpet cleaning jobs for me.
Now, I screened this chap. He was a nice enough guy, did a pretty good job, and every one seemed to like him. He was pretty good at what he did, though never awesome, and generally he was acceptable to tide me over until I got back on my feet again.
The problem was that he was always turning late, smelling of cigarettes, he didn’t seem to be as picky as I would be when it came to stain removal and I had a number of complaints. But you know what … since my focus was on getting back to health, I pretty much ignored them all.
Unfortunately, because of this, I lost a load of work as my customers left me in their droves.
I have to take 100% of the responsibility for the fact that, even though it was not me who let those people down, it was me that sent him into their homes. I have to take 100% responsibility for the fact that I lost many thousands of pounds worth of repeat business and referrals due to my error.
No, it wasn’t me that was always late. No, it wasn’t me who smelt of cigarettes. No it wasn’t me. But it was still 100% my fault!
Every decent business owner on the planet knows that the buck stops with him / her. Everything that goes wrong in an organisation is their fault. Conversely, everything that goes right in your company or business is down to you too, down to the procedures you have put in place, or down to the amazing staff you have hired.
As business owners, we have to accept 100% responsibility for the performance of our businesses.
So many business owners say daft things like:
- It’s the recession
- It’s the government
- It’s the media
- It’s my staff
- … and any amount of additional excuses …
… and that’s all they are, excuses. It’s YOU! IT’S ALWAYS YOU. YOU are the boss. Grow a pair, take responsibility, learn lessons, and grow your business.
Be in no doubt that everything that happens in your business comes down to you. The buck really does stop with you.
