My husband’s friend quit his cushy job to start his own business. 

Apparently, many believe that if you want to be a millionaire and be able to order people around, you need to have your own business. 

I don’t think I’m in the right business as I don’t order people around. In fact, I don’t even ask them to make me coffee. That’s technically not their job. 

Just today for example, I listened to my sales supervisors as they give their daily report. 

After reporting, I quickly made their payroll, and then interviewed around 15 people for a specific role. Because people were arriving en masse, I ate lunch late at 2:00pm. 

After I finished interviewing, it was already 6pm. I still had to pay some bills and edit a letter before doing two more interviews and heading home. 

Where’s me being the boss here?! Where is me ordering people around? 

No, being an entrepreneur means that you have to get the sh*t done and your hands dirty. It means doing things people don’t dare to do, and making calls people don’t want to make.

For example, I can always delegate the payroll for the head office. But I don’t. 

Why?

Because I don’t want my staff finding out how much each other earns. I believe this creates dissent in the workplace. 

When making job offers, I dictate how much everybody earns and are responsible on ensuring that the company pays what was agreed on. 

When hiring for the office, I do it myself. I interview, probe and make an offer. No other staff dare to hire on my behalf because they’re afraid to make a mistake. 

I don’t. 

If something isn’t finished, I stay up the latest to finish it. 

If my sales staff’s payroll is not done correctly, I make sure I stay behind and do it right.

If I fire a staff, I take the brunt of it. I listen to them cry and wail and complain but I stand firm on my decision. 

It doesn’t mean that I do everything myself. Quite the contrary — I have multiple people to supervise sales, and I delegate what I can.
But it doesn’t mean that I stop working, not does it mean that I sit on my desk and order people around. I don’t know a lot of bosses who have such luxury, and a boss who is not hands on will soon find himself in a bad position and made a fool.

So yes, I’m a boss. 

But it doesn’t give me the right to boss people around.

In fact, being a boss is a HUGE responsibility. 

It’s so huge because so many people trust you to steer the company in the right direction and grow it well. Because they’ve staked their livelihood and their families on you. 

For me, this is what being a boss is really like:

Being at the front when business is tough, and making sure that people are working hand in hand together to achieve a common goal.

How about you? What for you is being a boss?