Part Two Business Owner Verses The Ceo

The business owner are the people who have a new idea for a product, a service and work very hard and long hours to learn about their product, market and their customer, or potential clients. They have this funny belief if they build a better mousetrap the world will beat a path to their door, or least to the retail establishment.


We see these new products every day, or a new business such as a window washing service, a lawn treatment company, many up-starts like pest control companies, and we could fill this chapter with many different products, services, or retail store ideas.


The business owners are running a business, learning more and more because they believe hard work, and knowing more than the next person will get us the brass ring or at least another day or month in the black. When they see new vista of increased business they tend to apply their usually business model hard work and more knowledge will win them conquest of this current summit these are the true over-achiever.



The business owner has built their business with the equity of blood, sweat, and tears; also, they consider the business as one of his or her children. Which one of your children are you willing to give up? These entrepreneurs work long hours an eight-hour day considered a vacation.


A term which some may use to pigeonhole business owners is a work-alcoholic; this has become a negative term to define someone who is addicted to his or her business, or their life is the business, their business identifies them. This person when ask who they are? Their response is; I am a mechanic; I am a window washer; I am a salesperson, Etc, Etc. So the work-alcoholic is defined by what he or she does, each person is more than their profession, they could be a husband or wife a father or mother, a son or a daughter, a Christian, a Buddhist, etc, etc.

It its much like Jeff Foxworthy stand up routine you know youre a redneck when; Well you know youre a work-alcoholic when you and your significant other have nothing to talk about except business. You know you are a work-alcoholic when you go on 14-day vacation and it takes 13 days to relax. You know you are a work-alcoholic when you do not take vacations. You know you are a work-alcoholic when hotel rooms on a vacation become your second office.


Sadly, the negative connotation of a work-alcoholic does have some merit because many business owners have no life except in and through our businesses. In the beginning, being a hard working business owner is very important; in fact, it should never be any different. Most business owners are tireless hard working entrepreneurs that tend to be work-alcoholics.


The work-alcoholic business owner believes no one can do their job better than they can. The business owner truly believes that he or she is the best resource for their employees because the employees do not possess the knowledge or the passion of the owner to be successful. This business model centralizes control, and limits the growth of the company to the owners vision and limitations.


Therefore, the first paradigm shift we need to navigate is from a work-alcoholic to a diligent business owner. The definition of a diligent person is not of a person addicted to work but he or she is conscientious, persistent, and hard working with care. The diligent owner can have time to become a CEO.




The companies that grow into a large successful company have CEOs at the helm that believes their employees are their best resource. The giants of industry such as Microsoft, Starbucks, Ford, allowed their employees knowledge, experience and new ideas to attack new markets, produce new products. The CEO became the arbitrator of what market or new product proposed by the employees would be worth investing time and money in.



What the founder and business owner needs to accomplish is to become a CEO. The business owner operates a business with their wit and knowledge. The CEO oversees the resources in each of the companys employees, and defines the overall vision so each new marketing paradigm aligned to the companys vision.

The CEO allows the resources that are intrinsic in each employee be vetted to expose the resources that are honed to the companys vision corner stone. The manufacturing or marketing paradigms that do not replicate the companys mission the CEO rejects as a viable program.

As a business owner, I am currently morphing into a CEO and the day-to-day operation of the business is someone elses job description. To let go was very difficult, but I have found that it liberated my employees to be all they can be. I still guide and direct, but I am no longer the only resource, my employees are building their business while they increase mine.

Become a CEO and enjoy your business again.