Liz Strauss.com

Behind every Successful small business is an Outstanding Manager.

In doing the research for my new service — The Perfect Virtual Manager — I spoke with people at all levels of business who’ve left traditional organizations to start their own. From homeschooling emoms who needed to earn their way to small businesses who’ve had clients for two decades, what I found is that we share agreement that schools prepare us to be great members of the working system. We gain strong skills in leadership within the context of the traditional organization, but few of us are ready to take on the challenges of cutting a path on our own.

I wrote about this on my writing blog not long ago . . .

Where I went to school we didn’t learn to lead. We learned to be good students and if we fit the mold just right we became exceptional employees. We might rise through the ranks. We might achieve a place where we could lead, but that didn’t make us leaders. We never had to forge a path. The path was always there before us. Do this and then do that to get there and you too, can be where I am now.

I was one of those faux leaders. I built companies and made them rich. I thought I knew how to do things, but I didn’t. I only had a piece, only a bit of the picture. No one had taught me how be on my own. No, no, they let me do things alone, but that’s not the same. I didn’t know that. How could I? It looks the same when you’re in a crowd.

Most folks who leave an organization are not aware of the support they are walking away from — the back office functions, the benefits plans, the wide-range of skill sets that are available that are not the skill sets that they personally have or understand. Some don’t consider the work they will have to do that isn’t billable — preparing invoices, doing taxes, buying supplies.

The learning curve is high for skills and functions that once were done by other people — collecting bad debts, making cold calls, writing a marketing plan.

Even folks prepared to run a business, as I was, miss the advantage of a second opinion — the board of directors, the intelligent colleague — the business mind who has time to listen and give intelligent and valuable feedback.

These needs are the underpinnings of the Perfect Virtual Manager (PVM). Over the next few posts, I’m going to share with you what I learned about working at home while researching this new (PVM) service.

Liz Strauss