What’s that have to do with growing your business?  Well quite a bit after you hear my little story.

I was in need of an extra key for our house, so I went to the local hardware in my little town.  Now let me paint you a picture, I live in a “mayberry” town without Floyd the Barber.    It’s just a small little place, but we love it here and most folks are either related or go to church with you.  So it’s one big family.  But back to the story…

I walked into the hardware and spoke to the sales person at the counter whom I have chatted with many times.  I said, “I need a key made.”  She told me that the owner was the only person that could make keys and he wouldn’t be in until the afternoon, but to try down at the drug store.

So I got back into my car and drove less than a quarter of a mile to the drug store, where I was greeted by a cute little blond girl and I said to her, “I would like to get a key made please.”  She smiled sweetly and said, “The lady that makes the keys is on vacation for the summer.”  The Summer!!!

So I just started laughing and got back in my car and went to the local Wal-mart to have the key made.

This is a very funny story, but not so funny if it is happening to your business.  When you are away, who is making the keys?  Do you have an assistant that can take care of “anything” that comes along?  Or are you the type of business owner that must do everything themselves?  Do you realize how much business you are loosing when you are away and nobody else is trained to make the keys?

Whether you are a brick and mortar business or an online business owner, you must build a team of trusted and trained individuals that will be there when you can’t be to keep the company going.  You can use a virtual assistant, an online business manager or a social media manager to help run your business.  Or you can use part-time interns from the local college to make sure all the keys are made in your shop and not at the nearest big giant shopping center.

Isn’t it time to evaluate your business and focus on its growth instead of keeping all the trade secrets to yourself?  But without a trained key-maker, you will be just another stop on the way to getting a key made.