Leaders and managers are different roles, but did you know that both are critical for business success? Many people use the terms leadership and management interchangeably, even though they don't know that these are two different concepts. The term "leader" is actions without dictating, and inspires others to try their best through their words, and the term "manager" is someone who directs the work of others. Many people choose the term leader over manager, but in fact, both are needed to achieve success.
SMEBrother will explain in this article about the nuances between management vs leadership, starting from definitions, differences, examples, and everything you need to know.
Is lead and manage the same?
Lead and manage describe two separate concepts. Lead is guiding on a way by going in advance, while managing is handling or directing with a degree of skill. If examined in depth, both descriptions share much in common, but the explanations show the differences between the two.
Every company needs leaders and managers, but it doesn't have to be in the same person or in the same capacity. Simply leaders lead people, managers manage tasks.
Leadership and management definitions
Management is the idea of control and is responsible for using any available resources to be implemented to get the right action and coordinate it to the business towards its goals. Management is responsible for organizing actions and implementing tactics to move a business to achieve goals, while leadership sets those goals.
Leadership is a position that looks at the larger picture to focus on influencing, aligning, and motivating team members to support their vision. Leadeship understands how to motivate and choreograph their team to achieve high-performance and achieving goals together.
The skill sets of management vs leadership are identical, but these two roles will get different outcomes. Managers tend to be more focused on completing specific tasks and building effective teams, while leaders focus on inspiring and motivating employees to get their best potential.
Management vs leadership examples
If you are still confused about the difference between leadership and management, we made up some scenarios that will help to illustrate the difference between them.
Avengers get the award for the best security, in part of the Avengers efforts to protect the earth. Representatives of the presidents of the worlds thanks to the head of the team during the world meeting.
Manager : Tony "Iron-Man" Stark says thank you, and will tell the team when he returns back to the Avengers compound.
Leader : Steve "Captain America" Rogers insists that the team effort and mentions several highlights and specific contributions of team members, giving his teammates well-praised for the hard work.
Team Gryffindor is having a hard time because they lost several Quidditch matches and made their competitor, Team Slytherine, ranked first.
Manager: Harry tells the team that their performance need to improve warns of the consequences if the results of the game are losing continuously. Harry provided additional training to prepare for the next match, and promised a vacation with the team if he managed to return to the top of the standings.
Leader: Ron is closer to the team members, and he knows which members need to play better and how to motivate the other members to stay focused and enthusiastic. Ron also opens the conversation about Ron's opinion for each member for the past game, which tactics worked, and which ones needed improvement. Ron also listens to the team members' opinions, offers suggestions, and accepts criticism for his play on the games.
The Kowloon branch of Justice League is a small team that works well, always on target compared to other branches.
Manager: Superman says nice job, but no need to praise the staff excessively. He notifies the team when the team achieves targets or on good sales days, but also tells the team when the team is screwed up, and needs to deal with it.
Leader: Batman expresses his gratitude to his colleagues on a regular basis. He praises specific achievements and which areas have succeeded in making this branch progress. He facilitates coworkers by giving compliments and bonuses to encourage others to get the same achievements.
At the car dealer "Andy's Best Car," employees Rex and Potato Head respectively ask their bosses Sheriff Woody for a raise.
Manager: Buzz Lightyear informs Rex and Mr. Potato Head that salary increases are standard and depend on the annual evaluation. The company can only provide pay increases from the performance review period. When Rex reminds Buzz that this year's raises were frozen because there were several poor performances, Buzz says he will reconsider raising but makes no promises.
Best Strategies to Improve Employee Performance
Leader: Woody hears his employees by agreeing with his team members' justification and logic. Woody negotiates with executives and insists his employees get a raise in the near future, with promises of evaluation in a few months motivating Rex and Mr. Potato Head to work with chasing targets.
The Monsters Inc. is facing staffing challenges. The demand for electrical power is increasing, and the team is dividing up the tasks for everyone, but the result is longer than expected. The staff is exhausted because they are overworked, and there are many other unexpected problems.
Manager: Mike Wazowski tells the team to increase their performance to deal with the problem of electric power demand until it is fulfilled. He knows that his employees are overwhelmed, but that is what it is and tells the employees to hold on until that period is over. He says that everyone can rest after the target is met.
Leader: James P. Sullivan asks what resources or what help can be done for his team, and tries to make the journey alongside teammates. He adds extra manpower to the team, and does other things to ease the burden, and finds ways to figure out solutions to reduce the stress of his employees.
Which is more important leadership vs management?
Both leadership and management are crucial for organizational needs. But, leadership is more important and must be in the core organization. Management regulates the student process, leadership handles the vision and passion of employees and building a successful business.
But even though leadership is more ahead than management, it doesn't mean management is not needed. Both must exist and be sustainable to achieve goals, because management vs leadership is something that cannot be separated.
That's all about what you need to know about management vs leadership. If you want to know about other reliable sources of information for small and medium-sized businesses, look no further than smebrother.com. Our website offers a wide range of articles, guides, and services to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses and overcome challenges. Whether you're just starting out or looking to take your business to the next level, our team of experts is here to support you every step of the way. Check out smebrother.com today and see how we can help your business thrive.
Every business owner who launches their business for the first time will focus on establishing their brand and start growing. Not a few business owners want to know how to grow a business quickly and easily, without researching that growth is an ongoing process that requires patience, hard work and dedication.
There is no special recipe or secret way to grow business and achieve immediate success. However, there are proven ways from small business leaders who share their tips to accelerate growth. Let's take a look in this article.
How do you describe business growth?
Business growth can be seen when a business reaches a point where it needs to expand and requires more avenues to generate any profit. Grow business can happen from many factors, such as increasing the amount of production or service, increasing consumer demand, increasing company revenue, and expanding the customer base.
The majority of business views growth as the main objective. Every business decision will be reviewed whether it contributes to the company's growth and overall success. The growth is seen continuously and not just in one moment. Every business owner hopes that the company's growth will escalate quickly with minimal obstacles. But every business will experience its own challenges, and they need to overcome them.
How to measure business growth?
The growth rate can be calculated by dividing the difference between the current period value and the previous one. A percentage of the difference will appear, and you can see whether this month is better than before, or vice versa. Indicators for company growth are sales growth, high gross profit growth rate, good cash flow, and improved customer retention rate.
If a business refers to the national growth rate, then try to make sure that the percentage of the company's growth rate is slightly higher than the national rate.
10 tips to grow business quickly
There's a lot you can do to accelerate growth. These tips are steps that have been taken by some small business owners and the methods they've used to scale up, for businesses in any field.
Hire qualified employee
Company's growth can be seen from how your team performs. Good team performance can be obtained from having solid staff who focus on goals. Hiring the best people with perfect qualifications can be a major factor to ensure fast growth.
Top Ways To Improve Employee Productivity
Imagine you have employees who are dedicated to the company's success, are hard workers, and can collaborate with their team. You can delegate tasks and focus on important work without having to waste a lot of time and energy, allowing you and your team to perform at your best and achieve goals as fast as possible.
Reduce business risks
Every business that is launched will have its own risks. It's impossible for every owner to control everything, but there are still many things that can be prevented or researched to reduce risk. You need to have resources for business insurance providers.
Small businesses need to find insurance products to help them cover online data breaches, and cover the cost of remediation and lawsuits. When business growth has begun to show, business owners need to review the policy to ensure they get the right coverage for their expansion.
Always adapt
Adapting to changes in the market and looking for current marketing strategies is one of the steps to growing a business in an efficient way. With adaptations and quick changes, you can do trial and error to find what is the best step.
In this digital era, every product or service will be more easily known through the internet. Business owners must be able to adapt to new things and adjust their product or service according to what is currently trending.
Research your competitors
Analyze the competition by seeing how competitors do their business. Ask yourself who your competitors are, what are the good things about them, and what are your plus points. You can get answers on which parts need to be improved so that you are not inferior to your competitors.
Although this step is not elicit immediate growth, by looking at your competitors you can better recognize how your products and services compare to theirs, and what you should do to introspect and try to be better.
Customer experience is important
Small businesses need to respond to their customer needs. Engaging with customers is crucial because you strengthen the relationship with them and understand what they want. Customer's perception is also the key to the rapid development of a business, because the more they are satisfied with your product or service, they will not hesitate to offer it to their friends, family or co-workers.
But if you can't deliver the best, customers can break your business with their bad comments. Ensure you get praise from customers and make your current or your potential customers happy.
Providing excellent customer service
Customers will be more loyal to your products and services if you exceed their expectations. You can appreciate customers by providing excellent service, such as offering discounts, additional services, or free products after several purchases.
Sometimes customers feel relieved when there is a follow up from the company to ensure a client was satisfied or not with your service or product. They feel heard and trust you back if there is something they don't like. Ensure you have a customer service team that can listen to what customers want or have to say.
Plan your next step
Planning the next step is a step to anticipate all scenarios that might occur. Thinking ahead can be done by means of comparing rates, reviewing all ongoing contracts, research for better negotiate deals, or further ideas for new products and services. Thinking about possible problems can be your benchmark in making a decision.
Social media platforms
Having a website alone is not enough to introduce your product or service. Add it by creating profiles on all major social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The active profile helps you to communicate with customers and interact with more potential customers.
Update regularly on several social media platforms so as to increase the potential for new people to see your brand.
Go to networking events
Connect with new people in networking events. Many people have insights and unique perspectives that can help you grow your business. The relationships and connections can be forged when you attend networking events, and can be beneficial for years to come.
You can learn many things from others, starting from facing the same problems, to the possibility of future cooperation and offers a wealth of opportunities.
Invest early
First, determine which parts of your business need attention. Do you need more employees? expand the marketing efforts? or securing additional funding? If you find a crucial area that requires fast completion, then invest in it to accelerate growth.
You can start financial support from your own money, because the early stages of every business are no profit or very lean profit margin. Any money that you can get can be an investment to help your business grow.
Hope these 10 tips can be your steps to accelerate your success. Don't forget to balance the business growth with auditing. If you need professional auditors who can help you with the financial condition of your business up to the next business steps, SMEbrother is the answer. Check our website for your reliable source of information and resources for small and medium-sized businesses. Check out SMEbrother now for auditing or accounting purposes, or anything that can help your business thrive.
Small businesses always have new things that become challenges for them, and must be tackled to survive. It's not uncommon for small businesses to experience accounting challenges, and some small business owners fear that their businesses will have to bear the same burden as accounting challenges in corporations.
While accounting challenges might be frightening for many startups, we will discuss what are the possible accounting problems faced by entrepreneurs in the early days of opening their business. Hope this article will help you to tackle the accounting problems and give you an idea of what you might be facing.
How does accounting impact small businesses?
Accounting is an extremely beneficial thing for business, it helps owners, investors, managers, and stakeholders to keep track of the financial performance and track assets, liabilities, cash flow, and income. When business owners understand how their financial condition is, it enables them to make the next accounting decisions.
Businesses that do not track their financial condition will result in unnecessary expenses, greater expenses than income, or even bankruptcy. To avoid these things, we need to know some of the accounting challenges that are often faced by small businesses.
10 accounting challenges entrepreneurs must deal with
Managing cash flow
It's a big challenge for small businesses in managing cash flow. The percentage of businesses that fail because cash flow is higher than other problems. Small businesses find it challenging to keep the cash flow steady, because they find it challenging to cover recurring costs and try to stay on business.
An easy way to stay on top of cash flow, is to analyze bills carefully. Pay attention to the monthly expenses, and try to cut costs where you think they can be reduced. If there is inventory that is rarely used, you can sell it to generate cash.
Unexpected expenses
Some examples of unexpected expenses are employee health insurance costs when they fall or slip while working, one-time government taxes, essential office inventory that is suddenly damaged, etc. If a small business earns more than usual and might be in good shape, set aside some for emergencies or unexpected expenses.
Don't forget to always record how much you save, and how much you spend on an expense. If you have a lot of records about unexpected expenses, you can estimate how much it costs to be prepared each month for unexpected things.
Using accounting software
Although small businesses need good records for bookkeeping, using accounting software is sometimes unnecessary. In order to run accounting software, you need to have a basic understanding of accounting, and you will need to do a lot of installation. You need to learn about financial health to utilize accounting software properly.
If you are satisfied with manual recording and can be checked periodically, then using accounting software can be postponed until you need it. Some software requires an annual rental fee or purchase of a license, and is a significant problem for small businesses.
Reporting finances
Every business in Hong Kong must prepare financial statements by submitting their profit tax return and the adjacent reports. The annual filing needs to be studied, or company owners are advised to seek professional services to ensure that the company complies with the regulations. Professionals will help you with various legal services, including tax compliance for individuals and companies.
Errors and miscalculations
If the recording is only done once and does not use accounting software, there is a possibility of miscalculations or transactions that are forgotten to be recorded. This is common in small businesses where they often postpone income or expenses because they feel that the amount is small. No matter how small your income and expenses are, you must record it as soon as you can prevent unrecorded financial data.
How to Reduce Common Accounting Errors in Small Business
Lots of errors and miscalculations will create an unmatched balance sheet, and can be a big disaster. Never let anything go unchecked, and record every single detail of a transaction as soon as it happens.
Regulating payroll
Managing payroll is important in small businesses, because each employee must be classified properly. Each employee has a different salary amount, and it affects taxes. Ensuring employees are paid according to the agreement, and properly tracking when employees have holidays. Now there are many accounting software that can make it easier for payroll, but you must have good and thorough records.
Analyzing finances
Reconciling or analyzing your finances may be annoying, but it's a must. You have to check if there is an error that leads to incorrect data. If you do not use accounting software, you must verify all of your transactions on a monthly basis. Don't forget to run through the accounting books every end of the day to ensure no transactions are forgotten. Financial decisions can exist because you are analyzing and advising.
Securing data
Secure your financial data whether it's online or offline. If your financial data is put online, there are many possibilities for your data getting targeted by hackers. You can use cybersecurity for online data. If the data is online, you can only entrust financial data to a few important people. Not all employees are allowed to know, because this is a company secret. Besides you writing in a journal, you can put financial data in excel or accounting software.
Bank accounts
A common mistake small businesses make is combining bank accounts. The owners cannot distinguish between office income and their personal income. It's impossible to track all of the finances. Personal and business expenses may not be combined into one bank account. If it continues, then it's a major accounting problem that can lead to bankruptcy or fraud.
Business financial health
Bookkeeping perfectly, maintaining and operating the business's accounting is not enough. You need to analyze, assign a specific budget that derives to the next steps, and do careful analysis. You can ask an accountant or conduct an audit with a professional to determine the next financial step. The business's financial health can be seen from how you process and also continue to develop the business.
How do you fix accounting problems?
Fixing accounting problems can be done in several ways. First, you can hire someone qualified for detailed bookkeeping of all financial company data. Next, you can use accounting software if there are a lot of transactions, income and expenses. Don't forget to do an audit and hire a professional accountant for your next step.
If you're looking for a reliable auditor and accountant for small and medium-sized businesses, look no further than smebrother.com. We offer a wide range of guides and services to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses and overcome challenges. Whether you're just starting out or looking to take your business to the next level, our team of experts is here to support you every step of the way. Check out smebrother.com today and see how we can help your business thrive.
Starting a business has many challenges as well as achievements for entrepreneurs, but maintaining the business is the bigger challenge. Every business will face common, small or large challenges. If entrepreneurs are unable to persist in solving business challenges, they will fail faster, and not a few small businesses fail in their first year.
Learning strategies about surviving the many common business problems is a must for progressing your business from small business to the next level. But how can we strategize if we don't know what to expect? Let's learn what makes small business struggle.
What are the challenges of small business?
Opening a business from scratch is a challenge in itself for small business owners. But after going through this milestone, other challenges will come, such as lack of funds, cash flow problems, lack of business plan, lack of time, hard to get good employees, having trouble introducing oneself to the market, even losing passion for the business.
All of this can happen due to many factors, such as lack of preparation, not having learned about the target market, or running a business without a clear vision and mission. Small businesses can have a great opportunity to develop quickly if they have a good marketing strategy and do experiments before investing.
For example, before you sell a product, you need to create and share your product with family, acquaintances, co-workers or neighbors. Look for feedback on your product, until you find their honest opinion about what needs to be improved, and what is the added value of your product.
Even though this first step will cost money, it is better if you know what we are selling and how people respond to our products than gambling to sell products directly without experimenting and getting to know people around.
But the problems that small businesses can experience are not only that. Let's look at 7 business challenges that must be faced by small business owners.
7 business challenges that small small business struggle with
Finding customers
Although this problem is not only for small businesses, it is still one of the problems that cause small businesses to struggle. Every marketer working hard everyday to find new customers. If even large companies are still looking for new customers every day in different ways and strategies, then the challenge for small businesses is more significant.
Small businesses have to introduce their brand first before they can get customers. There are many other things besides brand recognition that every small business must prepare, so it is difficult to determine which ones should be prioritized.
Money management
Having enough cash to cover expenses and bills is a must for every business. Small business owners often experience difficulties in financial accounting, and it is not uncommon for them to combine personal income with business or vice versa. Not all business owners can handle business accounting and taxes, most of them need professional help and the costs are not cheap.
Knowing The Importance of Accounting Services for Your Business
What many small businesses do is bookkeeping manually or by using an accounting application, although there are still many things that must be learned starting from the basics of bookkeeping.
Labor quality
Every company needs a team that can work together to understand business goals and achieve them. Hiring a qualified staff is the biggest challenge for small businesses, because not all business owners want to pay a premium for their new employees because there are still many costs to think about.
While getting low-quality labor, it takes quite a long time for them to adjust to understand what the business owner wants, and it takes a long time to teach knowledge according to their field until they get used to it.
Balancing quality and growth
Businesses must always be monitored for developments and the quality of the products or services offered to buyers. Never feel satisfied with what is produced, because there is always room to grow. Small business owners often focus on sales figures rather than quality.
Sometimes business owners also don't want to listen to good opinions from employees or customers about the shortcomings of the products or services offered. Focusing too much on one's own opinion can be detrimental to brand development.
Look for a middle ground between obsession with quality balance, because business owners must be willing to listen to the opinions of others for the betterment of their own business. Business owners can still navigate the process for a middle ground that allows for change and growth without destroying the brand.
Managing workflow
After hiring qualified employees, the next challenge is managing workflow. You have to balance your team's performance with any tools and processes to gain efficiency. Business owners cannot be on all fronts at one time, but they must remain focused to ensure everyone is working in the right path. Small businesses that cannot manage the employee's workflow will find it difficult to direct their employees towards the intended goal.
Business owners who have almost no time to hold meetings or listen to what employees say are also a big problem. Employee's workflow can be maintained with employee satisfaction surveys, periodic meetings, and one-on-one meetings with direct reports.
Fatigue
Many business owners are stuck working longer hours than employees. Many think that their business will stall in their absence, and set aside time to rest and recharge. Many small business owners want totality in developing their business by sacrificing their rest time even though this is not so urgent.
Fatigue can cause mistakes in making decisions such as decisions that are too hasty, or decisions that are not thought through carefully. This can make a fatal mistake in business, because a lack of focus can make business owners overlook small things that can have a big effect one day.
Marketing
Even large businesses will still have a marketing strategy to win the market and expand their reach. But many small businesses feel secure about their accomplishments and feel they don't have to rush into brand awareness or take the next marketing step.
Many think that marketing steps require a lot of money and are not very productive, or don't even try to enlarge the reach of their brand. As a result, the small business will remain small because it cannot go any further, because business owners limit themselves to introducing their products or services.
How can small businesses overcome challenges?
Small businesses can survive every challenge if they are surrounded by talented people and support each other for the progress of the business together. If it's still difficult for small business owners to find qualified employees according to their needs, then you should still take steps to hire someone professional to keep the business running.
The problem of financial arrangements and how to develop a strategy to keep the business running is a must. If you're looking for a reliable source of information and resources for small and medium-sized businesses, look no further than smebrother.com.
Our website offers a wide range of articles, guides, and services to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses and overcome challenges. Whether you're just starting out or looking to take your business to the next level, our team of experts is here to support you every step of the way. Check out smebrother.com today and see how we can help your business thrive.