People starting a business ‘should aim to work on it, not in it’

Posted 29/03/2011

People intending to start a business should have a growth strategy in place that will allow it to eventually expand without them.

This is according to Pavlo Phitidis from Aurik Business Incubator, who told Times Live that some companies end up staying in the start-up phase for many years and never really get off the ground because their managers have not implemented suitable systems and processes.

He recommended employing people capable of running the business early on and then managing them and guiding them carefully, as well as creating systems that allow staff and the company to slowly become almost self-sufficient.

“It is the entrepreneur’s responsibility to create a venture that does not need him … You need to work on your business, instead of in it. It is not a time thing,” Mr Phitidis commented.

Business expert Mark Robotham recently told Stuff.co.nz that people may wish to consider buying a business rather than starting one from scratch if they want to follow existing strategies but simply improve and expand them.