Don't Push Too Many Trolleys

13Being a Boss

Being a boss, like being a parent, is one of the hardest yet most rewarding jobs you can ever do. Being a boss – an employer – is distinct from running a company. When you start and build your own company, there is an endless list of things you have to do, from registering it in the very first instant, to balancing the books. This is all hard enough when you do it on your own, but when you employ people (which you have to do at a certain point because, as you grow, you can't do everything), it's a whole new ball game – you are responsible for other people. You have to make sure you have enough money to pay them, that you treat them with respect and give them a healthy and supportive environment to work in, but you also have to make difficult decisions because you have to put the welfare of the company first. If you go out of business because you've hired the wrong people, or paid people too much, everyone loses out, so while you have to be a “good boss”, a big part of that is putting the company first.

I think an important aspect of being a good boss is getting to know people's strengths and putting them in the right position. You have to pick good people, but they have to be suited to the position they are being hired for. You have to accept that you have to let people go if they don't live up to expectations… or find a different position for them and retrain them. It really helps if you pick the right people for the right jobs in the first place, and this goes ...