Roles of the Business Owner

A business owner must wear many hats. They not only focus on providing an excellent service for their clients, but they also manage relationships with stakeholders, manage finance, market and research what kind of relief their clients need.

Following the author Michael Gerber and his classic book The E-myth Revisited, I argue there are three main roles a business owner must lean into in order to run a strong and stable business that provides an excellent service for clients, staff and the community.

Roles of the Business Owner

The first role the business owner must embody is The Technician.

The Technician

The technician is the part of the business owner that takes care of producing and delivering the work needed for the present day. The technician is similar to the employed person who must focus on getting their head down and getting their tasks done. For the business owner who runs a coaching practise, the technician delivers coaching sessions to clients. For the business owner who runs a dance school, the technician delivers dance classes to students. For the business owner who runs a counselling practise, the technician delivers counselling sessions to clients. Without the technician, the business won’t have a service that can be provided to clients.

The Manager

The business also needs an operator. The business owner must shift between their role as technician to their second role as The Manager. The manager must organise the business system, track quantifiables and data based on the business’ past and present. The managerial role of the business owner will tell the technician role (also a part of the business owner) what, how and when they need to work based on the business system. Every successful business has got a business owner who is excellent at drifting between the role of the technician and the manager.

The Entrepreneur

As well as this, all successful businesses have a strong purpose, mission and aim as explored in Two Main Objectives of Every Business. The business owner has got an inner part of them that can dream big, plan for the future and steer the business operation in directions that achieve their long-term goals. This is The Entrepreneur who lives in every business owner.

I like to think of a business as a boat sailing in the oceans heading for clearer sky. The Entrepreneur is the captain pointing forwards at the helm. The Manager operates the boat, making sure the boat has what it need. The Technician is the sailor, pulling the ropes and climbing the sails. As business owners, we fulfill each role.