UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS STRUCTURE

On structuring your business, there are a number of things to consider, but we will present just an overview.

Structure is one of the fundamental differences between being self-employed and owning a business.

In self-employment, the business is totally dependent on you. The business needs your constant presence to function. Decisions cannot be taken without you. Procurement can’t happen without you. Business is just a hustle.

In being a business owner, you create a system around the business so that it can keep running even in your absence. You can even resign or move on to other things and the business will keep running so long as there is good management in place.

So how is a structure set up?

First, you have to outline all that needs to be happening in the business for it to run effectively and profitably.

That then leads to the need for people who will get the outlined things done in an effective manner. The higher the quality of people you employ the better.

These people won’t be moving in various directions or doing what they want, they have to be aligned to what you want for the business.

Therefore, there should be clear instructions for each person (job description), performance appraisal (key performance indicators), and penalties (policies et al).

There also has to be clear reporting lines for each officer with you at the helm of affairs CEO.

However, even you need to report to someone and be put in check. Hence the need for a board of directors (for limited liability company) or an advisory board (for business name or yet to be registered business).

You will have to someday leave the position of CEO for someone else to take over, but you can move on to be the Board Chairman if you like or just a founding director.

Note that for each position you create, you also have to vest the needed power into that position without micro-managing. The business account will need other signatories. There should be other decision-makers at different levels and so on. There should be a succession plan for each officer that exits the business.

There are many more things in between but we hope that this gives us a good perspective on what structuring a business is really about.

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