While the main hierarchy and organization of a business is largely the same from firm to firm, the details are where the success of the company matters. As a business leader, it is of paramount importance to ensure your business is working for you and not the other way around. If you fail to take advantage of this, you can truly trap yourself working for a firm you do not enjoy being part of. If you’re the owner of said firm, this situation can seem nonsensical.

Making your business work for you can be achieved with this advice:

Respect

While it’s always best to keep the peace between your staff members and yourself, even if you have cause to be annoyed with one another, respect must always be the solid ground you both stand on. If either side of the party resorts to pettiness, ill behavior or difficulty, then that is a serious problem. Disputes should always be filtered through HR and in a professional way.

That being said, sometimes an employee can be testing because they know they do good work for you. After politely warning them, there is no shame in letting staff members go if they fail to meet their end of the bargain. Even if they are the best worker in the world, it can be that a lack of respect poisons your office interactions, and as such makes your own business a battleground in which you must compete. As long as you temper yourself with self-respect and respect for your employees, you must expect this high standard at all times, and even have this written in the company social policy.

Consolidated Communications

In the early days of a firm, it’s likely you will take on several roles for yourself. Working as your own secretary, administrator, HR head and marketing expert might all seem stock in trade. However, when you start getting bigger, these roles are supposed to leave your hands. Communication is the first one you’ll notice becoming too much to handle, and so diversifying how these important messages reach you is the first wise priority of the growing business leader. There are many methods that can help you do this, such as inbox prioritization algorithms, a digital business address provided by physicaladdress.com, or even hiring a secretary dedicated to organizing your schedule and ranking the importance of certain communications.

This can make or break your ability to attend to important meetings, organize the ever-encroaching responsibilities of your workday, and manage the time you do have effectively for maximal success.

Working Capacity

Depending on the type of firm you run, you may or may not have authority over your schedule. This might mean that coming into the office in the early hours of the morning and working an 8 hour shift before anyone gets to work could be yours for the taking if you can systematize your job around this. This might also mean working on the same timeline as a US client, or generally having more freedom in how you pick your tasks. Look at your schedule and consider where you can make these hours suitable to you and your working capacities. It might help you if you’re the type who needs their own maverick-style hours. The fact you need to work hard will never change, but the ability to work might be tailored in specific ways, so it’s worth reflecting on this.

If you’ve noticed your business feels less like your asset and more like your trap, these tips should help you.