Building a leadership team.

• Author: Robbins, Christopher
• Position: Management

Are you the classic visionary entrepreneur? Do you own a small company that just landed "the deal," the one that will take you to the next level? You might be facing growth challenges, and building an effective management and leadership team should be high on your priority list.

Rick Farr, a Salt Lake-based angel investor who has funded and observed small businesses, believes there is no cut-and-dry answer to how and when to build a management team. "At least," he says, "I haven't figured it out yet." Farr does say that you must consider the variables of your business. "What type of industry are you in--product or service? Is it low-cost or high-cost?" The business variables alter the leadership needs.

To build a better team, you should evaluate the company's goals and then its management talent and skill level. "Then," says Gibb Dyer, the O. Leslie Stone professor of entrepreneurship at Brigham Young University, "you can assess what skills you have to grow the business and what skills you don't. The question becomes, 'how do you bridge the gap?'" Dyer believes a company should focus on four key areas: finance, marketing, HR and operations. "What you find in small businesses," says Dyer, "is a lack of technical skills, and because you have a lack of technical skills, positions are poorly filled. You have your HR person doing marketing."

Build a foundation with a strong board of directors. "Most boards in small businesses," Dyer says, "are nonexistent or function poorly." A good board is critical to the continued success of a company. The board helps measure and critique management talent and need. The board should also look at periodic financial statements to review the company's performance. A well-connected board can be useful in filling specific skill positions.

Start with a money manager. Monte Swain is the former CFO of Authorize.net, a global currency transactions solutions company founded in Utah, and currently the associate director of BYU's school of accounting and information systems. He believes there are six paramount positions in a growing business. "You first have to get a comptroller, someone to oversee the finances, to watch cash flow, make budgets, watch inventory levels, do payroll and payables, and collect." Swain says that something as simple as collecting on sales is a significant issue. "Everybody likes to sell," he says, "but nobody likes to collect; it gets in the way of this budding customer relationship."

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