For most owners, when you start your company, you learn from the ground up. You manage associations yourself. You handle HR, IT, day-to-day office management, business development, training, etc.
You also create a great brand. You develop a culture of how you are going to interact with your boards and as you grow. You hire people you believe share your vision and values.
And, before you know it you are “successful.”
With success comes a realization you can’t do it all anymore. You know you need more time to work “on” your business instead of “in” it. So, you delegate and/or hire staff to help with things like HR, IT, administrative tasks, and maybe even business development. But you keep managing — maybe only 1 or 2 or maybe it’s 7 or 8 or more.
But, why?
Understanding why you continue to manage is the first step to understanding the costs of an owner continuing to manage communities.
The Why
Generally, we do things based on one of two things: necessities like food, sleep, and avoiding pain/seeking reward.
As you’ve built a successful community management company with an effective team you weren’t managing because you NEED to for survival. Instead, the answer as to why you continue relates to a real or perceived reward you desire such as:
- It allows me to stay in touch with what actually happens in the field;
- I feel loyal/responsible to this client as I’ve managed the community since I started my company;
- I can’t find a manager who has the same skills as me that are necessary for this particular community;
- I like to manage – it makes me feel good, knowledgeable, important, etc.
- If I don’t manage, I won’t have value.
The Cost of Your Why
Once you know your why, it is important to consider the costs associated with it so you can evaluate whether the reward is worth the cost.
Obviously, if you manage communities, it takes up part of your time you could otherwise spend doing things that would help your business grow and prosper such as:
- Business development
- Developing standardized, procedures, and practices
- Investigating and implementing new technologies
- Developing, training, and mentoring your staff
- Increasing your knowledge and skills
When you continue to manage, you also continue to make your employees and clients dependent upon you.
What does this mean?
If the communities you manage are the communities with the longest tenure, the highest monthly management fees, or even the greatest percentage of your company’s clients, your entire company depends upon you continuing to carry that load.
Every employee’s job, paycheck, and career are dependent upon you continuing to keep those clients happy to ensure they pay what is necessary to keep the company in the black.
But what happens if you have an unexpected illness?
What happens if you want to slow down?
What happens if you have other demands such as family, etc. that require more of your time?
Any of these situations could impact your ability to service those communities and thus, impact revenue, which could lead to staff cutbacks, decreased benefits, etc.
In addition, by keeping a hold on these communities, you are potentially preventing employees from growing and expanding their skills by taking on the management. Something that doesn’t serve you or them well because if they can’t grow with you, they are likely to seek employment somewhere else that fosters that growth.
Also, there is a cost to the communities you care so much about. If no one else can manage them except for you and you’re no longer available, what does that do to the community?
Will they be able to continue to move forward with the projects you have implemented? Will they be able to continue to have streamlined board meetings? So again, your decision to continue managing could come at a cost to the communities you manage.
I would encourage each of you to think about why it is you continue to manage, the cost of continuing to do so, and when you’re ready, decide upon a goal to move you out of managing and into doing what’s right for your employees and the communities you manage.