How can I tell if my factory runs on the owner?
Ask yourself twelve plain questions about your day. If you answer yes to six or more, your factory runs on you more than it should. The questions below cover decisions, information, people and your own time. Each yes shows one place where a system is missing.
We are not asking what would happen if you went away. We wrote about that in why the business stops when the owner is away. This article is a check you can do in ten minutes, on an ordinary working day.
Take a pen. Be honest. Nobody else needs to see your answers.
The twelve questions
Your decisions
- Does a manager come to you for a decision that he could take himself?
- Do you approve small purchases or small expenses?
- Is the order of work decided by who shouts loudest, or by who reaches you first?
- Do you personally decide the price of most quotations?
Your information
- Do you find out about a late order from the customer, not from your own team?
- Is the real status of orders only in one person's head, or on his phone?
- Do you get most reports by WhatsApp message, or by asking?
- Do you stop trusting a report because the figures often change after you ask?
Your people
- Do seniors do junior work because "only I can do it perfectly"?
- When you are present, output is good. When you are not, does it fall?
- Is there no one who could run the production meeting if you do not come?
- Do your managers blame each other when something goes wrong?
What does my score mean?
| Yes answers | What it shows |
|---|---|
| 0 to 3 | The plant is mostly system-driven. Look at the few yes answers and fix them. |
| 4 to 6 | Some systems exist, but you still fill the gaps. This is the most common position. |
| 7 to 9 | The plant leans heavily on you. Growth will bring more pressure, not more profit. |
| 10 to 12 | The plant is owner-driven. It is working, but it is working very hard. |
The score is not a judgement on you. It only shows how many decisions are still living in one head.
What does each group of questions tell me?
Decisions (1 to 4). The limits are not written. Managers do not know what they can decide, so they ask you to be safe. A written approval matrix fixes this. See approval matrix.
Information (5 to 8). There is no fixed report with a fixed owner. When information moves by phone calls, it is late and it changes. A daily plan vs actual report, read in a structured daily meeting, replaces the chasing.
People (9 to 12). The roles are not written and the second line of leaders is missing. Blame between departments usually comes from broken information, not bad people. Fix the information, and the blame reduces.
Why do so many plants score high?
Because the plant grew from the owner's own work. He knew everything, so he decided everything. Nobody ever planned the day when he would stop doing that.
There is another reason. Many owners feel that if they step back, quality will fall. Sometimes that is true for the first few weeks. A system gives the manager a clear way to do the job, so the quality holds without the owner standing there.
How to start in your plant
- Mark the group with the most yes answers.
- Choose only one yes from that group. Do not try to fix all twelve.
- Write a one-page rule for it. Example: "Purchases up to Rs. 5,000 (example) are approved by the stores head."
- Tell the people concerned. Put the rule on the notice board.
- For one month, note each time the rule is broken or you are asked anyway.
- Take the self-check again after three months.
What if I score high?
Do not worry. Almost every owner of a growing plant scores high at some point. The score only tells you where to look. It is also useful to ask your heads of departments to answer the same twelve questions about their own areas. Their answers will show you where they feel unsure, and what they need from you to act with confidence.
Key points
- Twelve questions on decisions, information and people show how much depends on you.
- Six or more yes answers means the plant runs on you more than it should.
- Each yes points to a missing system: a limit, a report, or a written role.
- Fix one thing at a time and write it down.
- Repeat the check every few months to see progress.
