DO YOU SUFFER FROM MANAGERIAL INCOMPETENCE?
A recent study by the University of Tennessee found that nearly half of start-up failures could be blamed on “incompetence”, a figure that I don’t actually find that surprising. I have mentioned in a previous post, Successful Tutoring Business – Thoughts & Observations from an Interested Observer, my uncanny ability to predict during training new customers, if they will still be in business a year down the line.
However, there are many levels of incompetence and my previous article touched on the items that I could assess in a qualitative way during training sessions such as staff demeanor, being on time, booking trainings in advance and not repeatedly rescheduling and the employers expectations of their staff and tutors.
The study from the University of Tennessee looks at these in conjunction with quantitative data and the results really speak for themselves.
But when you study the above chart other than the tiny percentage attributable to disaster, everything else is incompetence by my understanding of the word! Lack of experience is incompetence. It is incompetence if you do not know your true abilities or lack thereof and do not seek to fill the void with experienced staff or vendors.
But take heart as the tutoring, education and child care industry fares well throughout this study as shown in the following table with Education related companies showing 56% of start ups still in business after 4 years.
But what mistakes are being made?
Looking at individual industries the team at Tennessee found that Child Day Care Services came in Fifth for Rate of Success after year five in business, so if you have not already considered some kind of child care during the day to balance the after school and weekend tutoring, now might be the time!
An article on Forbes Magazine also looks briefly at the above study tying the in-competencies into basic financial metrics stating:
Looking at financial metrics that are important to business health can help you recognize if there are problems with pricing or expenses. “Truly understanding those metrics and gauging your performance against competitors using benchmarking data can give you a clearer picture of both strengths and areas that need fresh attention,” said Brad Schaefer, an analyst with Sageworks, a financial information company.
Many areas of managing a tutoring, child care or After School Business can be managed with quality software such as Oases Online. Oases can manage your staff, students, locations, Snacks, Invoicing, Payments and Pay Roll leaving you to manage the other items on the list provided by Forbes. Book an online demonstration today on how oases can revolutionize your back office.
