If you own a business have you ever asked yourself that question? Am I an Owner or do I just work here?

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Recently I arrived at a colleagues business for a lunch date. He's been having financial problems and wanted me to stop by. He's heard about our successful real-estate projects and knew that I ran a few lucrative businesses. When I walked into the office I noticed that he had a nice setup. The carpets were new and fresh. The building was trendy and modern. The front desk lady was good looking, tall, and very sweet. She greeted me with a big smile and let me know he would be with me in a minute. She then grabbed a paper bag lunch off her desk and out the door she went. My friend walked in minutes later looking frazzled and said he was running late. He was the only one answering the phones and needed to cover. During our short conversation he was interrupted 3 times by his staff. I then asked him nicely "Are you the owner of this company or do you work here?" He looked shocked and baffled by my candidness. The only thing he could do is laugh it off and go back to work.
The moral of the story:
One: Once your employees start dictating what you do and how you do it you are no longer an Owner but an employee. Just part of the staff. He had three other resources that could have handled the little stuff. This would have given him more time to spend on selling, working on the company vision or analyzing his financial statements.
Two: Image is important but execution, selling, and management is more important. Perhaps instead of spending wasted dollars on expensive office space, capital improvements, and front desk eye candy those dollars could be spent on opening new sales channels. Acquisitions, sales personal or even new partnerships. Lazards bank was notorious for have the most drab office space, but they generated loads of cash.
Three: Clients are the most important part of your business, even if they are friends. My motto has always been when I'm talking to a client they are the most important thing in my life at that moment. Never should your staff or even family interrupt you when you're with a client. "The building better be burning down" is my response when my staff tries to interrupt me during client meetings. I had no idea (I'm sure his staff didn't either) on why I was meeting with my friend that day. Was he going to ask for money, was he just catching up on old time, or did he just need advice.

Till next time.

Cheers!