The Many Hats of the Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs juggle numerous roles or wears a lot of hats, from CEO and product developer to salesperson, marketer, accountant, and more. Each hat demands versatility, adaptability, and continuous learning. Pip Jamieson suggests a "work-life blend," not balance, emphasizing finding joy in work. In consultancy, I aim to help women entrepreneurs discover this joy amidst their diverse responsibilities.

There is so much that business owners need to think about when running their companies. When we look at solo entrepreneurs we see and hear about them wearing a multitude of hats in their businesses. Essentially they take on every role required to keep their business running smoothly. Here are some of the hats that business owners need to wear. Hopefully as they grow they can outsource some but for solo entrepreneurs they wear most of these hats in the beginning.

Founder/CEO hat: There they need to set the vision, create the mission, and decide on the direction for the business. Along with developing business plans, setting goals, and adapting strategies.
Product/Service Developer hat: With this hat, you do all of the designing and creating. Also do the sourcing for the products or services they offer.
Salesperson hat: With this hat you are in charge of generating leads, pitching, and closing deals to drive revenue. We all know if there are no customers there is no business.
Marketers hat: Promoting their business, deciding what social media platform to use and managing them, put out advertising and PR.
Customer Service Representative hat: Here is all the work done of handling inquiries, addressing customer concerns, and ensuring satisfaction.
Accountant/Financial Manager hat: Without any money there is no business. Managing finances, bookkeeping, budgeting, and invoicing is a very crucial hat. Many owners try to outsource that part fast and that is ok but that does not give them a permission to not know what is going on with their money. You always need to know what money is coming in and what is going out.
Operations Manager hat: For solo entrepreneurs this is where their time is spent the most. Handling day-to-day operations, logistics, and process management. With my last company I got lost some day just here and forgetting too taking time to work on my company. Felt more like an employee than the CEO in my own company. I think many can relate to that feeling.
Human Resources hat: A Lot of managers/owners don't really think about this hat. Think this is just a hat for the big companies. Hiring, training, and managing any employees or contractors is very important even when you are just employing a part time worker that could even be your best friend or mother. If you don't give your part time worker some guidelines for how you want them to serve you clients they can do more harm to the good. Even if they are just part time workers, your clients should not be getting less service than they are used to.
IT Support hat: This hat is hard for some. Managing technology is not for everyone. Outsourcing here is great but you need to be on top of things like website maintenance, and troubleshooting.

This diverse range of responsibilities demands versatility, adaptability, and a willingness to learn across various domains. It's both challenging and rewarding, requiring continuous skill development and effective time management.

There is a lot of talk about the need to separate your personal life and your business life. I read recently in the book: Make a Living, Living by Nina Karnikowski where she talks to people that are successful doing what they love. There Pip Jamieson says: “ I was looking for that work-life blend, as opposed to work - life balance, because the latter implies you shouldn't like your work and that you work to live”

I took that to heart. With my new consultancy business where I offer service and operation advice and coaching I will make sure to help women find their blend and joy of running their businesses. So I will add here a new hat, the hat of Joy! Would love to hear if you have any more hats that you would like to add here!

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