Picking a business management style that's right for you

The success of a small business depends on the business management style that is running it. Every business has its own management style and you must be able to work out a style that fits your needs and the business needs. There are several business management styles out there but there are 3 that are quite popular with most small business owners.

Autocratic Management
This management style is run almost like a dictatorship. You are the boss and you are in charge of the business and how it's going to run. Your employees are expected to listen to you and to report to you in a timely manner. No matter what, you will give off the impression that you are always right. A lot of small business owners operate in this style because this business is their livelihood and they need to rely on it in order to provide for their families. It's common to see the boss taking on too many jobs and having a hard time trusting employees with key roles and responsibilities within the organization. This type of management style can be difficult to work for as you can step on people's toes and stifle their creativity.Autocratic management is considered an old-school way of running a business as most new businesses operate with a relaxed method. Be careful about this type of management as your employees usually have low job satisfaction and motivation levels.

Democratic Management
Another popular small business management style is democratic management. This style of management consists of trusting in your employees and their abilities. This is a great way to manage your business as you will hand over a lot of the responsibilities to your employees and you will give them a chance to work hard and achieve results that you and they both see fit. Trusting in your staff is huge for their motivation and job satisfaction. This type of management is great for small businesses as you cannot do it all on your own and you need to delegate a lot of the job responsibilities to other people. Assigning job duties to your staff will empower them and give them the motivation and drive they need to work harder. Having a staff of highly motivated individuals is essential to the success of your business. In order for this type of management to work you need to have employees that have strong job skills and the motivation to work hard. You must be able to trust them to work effectively when you are not around in order for this type of management to work.

Laissez-faire Management
There are some managers out there that really do not want to have a lot of involvement with the business. They like to take a backseat to the hard work and allow their employees to control and run the company. Having such power and free-rein over their own jobs is dangerous. Not everyone has the same work ethic and drive that you do and this can cause delays in the company and it can cause things to take a long time to get done. When you aren't managing your employees, its' going to be hard for your employees to know what to do. They won't have a clear sense of direction and this will lead to problems within the organization. Depending upon your personality you may be the type of manager that likes to oversee your employees without needing to micromanage them. You still need to have involvement in the company to make sure your employees understand what they are doing so you don't cause problems for them.