by Zachary Katkin

Created on: July 13, 2008

Heavy lies the crown.

Everything about a business is the hardest part. If you start off small, on a slim budget, by yourself, with no personnel you know what I mean. If you start off big, with a well financed idea, you still know what I mean. As a business owner you, in some way, at some time, will need to deal with almost everything.

It begins in the morning when you walk in (or wake up) there are a few dozen emails to go through, the place smells rank (the trash needs to be taken out), your clients or customers need something, and you need to do some billing. You have to juggle production, employee management, finances, client management almost everything, especially in the beginning, especially if you are a small business.

As a business owner, especially when a business is in its infancy, there is a lot you must do.

So, that is truly the hardest part, having to wear so many hats, juggle so many responsibilities, and try to do them successfully. Particularly in a service based industry it is important that phone calls be returned, emails be replied to even when all of the stuff mentioned above also has to go on.

So, keep in mind all of these things when thinking about starting your own business. But, it is a very rewarding experience, and if you concentrate on peeling and sticking these responsibilities (peeling away from yourself and sticking to someone that is qualified and often times can do a BETTER job than you), you may just find yourself spiritually and financially successful.

But, although wearing many hats is probably the single hardest part there is one of those items that stands out among the rest. Although there are many challenges a business owner will go through there is just one that surpasses them all. Ironically, or poetically, this obstacle is also the greatest asset you have, if you are able to navigate it correctly.

By far the single hardest part of owning your own business is also the factor that most greatly determines its success people. People are tough to deal with. Your people, the people you hire to assist with billing, selling, marketing, finance, and producing your goods or services are the toughest part of running a business. Dealing with many different styles, emotions, outbreaks, output levels, is very challenging.

Some people require one type of management while others require another. One person can get a lot done when leaned on, while another person may produce less when faced with looming authority. There are also personal lives, situations, and timing to deal with. We are all people. Understand that your employees are too, and there will be extenuating circumstances for even the worst situations, but that still doesn't mean work cannot get done and clients cannot be serviced. Navigating this slope in particular is challenging. Ever circumstance will be different, but when you make concessions for employees over and over again, some employees may see this, or exploit this as a weakness. Or, when learning particular changes or exceptions were made for a co-worker others' performance may start to wane. Even once stellar employees may become upset and begin to perform worse.

These are just a few of pitfalls of the single hardest part of running a business, people.

But, keep in mind that the absolute single most important part of any business is the people. They will launch your business to an unheard of level if you are able to select the right ones and cultivate their skills and abilities properly.

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