The control in a small business will begin to blur. No longer will it the one man/woman show it used to be. One week it will be in one person’s hands, the next another, depending on their specialism and the project. The owner co-ordinating and facilitating this rather than directing it.

As a result we will need to consider our human resource strategies in some detail. Retention will be a fundamental issue. An interesting challenge as many of us have very itchy feet. Strategies based on mutual respect, feeling valued, recognised, rewarded and a share in the business will need to be designed in to ensure our people remain satisfied with us and not someone else.

Our relationship with these people will need to be more significant, intense and trustworthy. Employees are already seeking out companies who they feel are sincere and genuine. Trust will be at the centre of every business owner’s attention. 

If our peoples imagination and delivery of product/service is the only differentiating factor, we better get going on how we are going to keep our competitive advantage.