We need a moment to talk about your responsibilities as a business owner. Whether you have a startup or

a small business that’s growing

to become a medium sized one, you have to keep a couple of things in mind. As the owner, you are in control of the well-being of your employees. Perhaps it’s just a single person, maybe it’s a dozen, or you could even have a company with hundreds of employees. Business growth can hit hard, and the realisation that you’re essentially in control of all these people can be a burden that is hard to cope with. Becoming a leader is difficult. It requires a lot of hard work, dedication and confidence. If you’re unable to inspire confidence in your employees or you’re unable to a give them meaningful orders, then you’re not fit to be a leader. However uncomfortable you might be in your current situation, it’s important that you either step down and hire a CEO to take over, or you shape up and start taking matters into your own hands. Just remember that natural leaders exist, but leaders can be born in from adversity.

Dealing with future problems

When you construct a skyscraper, you don’t just start by building the first floor and then adding layers on top. Instead, you have to focus on the foundation first and plan ahead so that the weight of your building can be held by the supports at the bottom. If there is no solid foundation, then your building will end up collapsing after a while. The same counts for your business. If you aren’t focusing on the supports and planning ahead for the future, then you’re going to encounter problems that can’t be solved and could destroy your business. A good example of this is legal help. For instance, if your accountant isn’t up to scratch, then federal and state tax issues should be resolved with a tax attorney . If you’re experiencing a wave of imitators who are trying to steal your customers, then you need to help of a copyright lawyer who has experience dealing with copycats. Legal help is just one of the major hurdles that you need to overcome. The earlier you think about it, the faster you can put a plan into action.

The well-being of your employees

Another major consideration, as mentioned before, is the well-being of your employees. As a business owner,

you are responsible for the well-being of every single member of staff

. If you make a terrible decision for your business, it could end up having horrible effects on your company and, as a result, you might have to fire several employees. They’ll lose their jobs, it will hurt their career, and you could end up being sued over neglect. The larger your business, the bigger the effect on your company when you lose an employee. If you’re going to fire a member of staff, it should be because of their own mistake or their behaviour, not because of your own mistakes or neglect.