If you own a profitable small business, you know how vital it is to have competent professional employees. In fact, the number one factor affecting your bottom line may be your key employees. Most small businesses have at least one or more key people that are critical to the success of the company. These key employees have unique talents and abilities that create tremendous revenue opportunities in various ways and that in many cases may not be easily replaced. Following are some examples of key employees and why they are essential to continued success of your business.
- Business Owners Do the Work of Three People or More
- Leading Sales People Must be Considered Key Employees
- Technology Experts, Scientists and Inventors Have Rare Abilities
Business Owners Give Blood, Sweat and Tears to Their Companies
If you are a business owner and are actively participating in the business you are a key employee. You certainly are more than just an employee because you likely having a serious financial investment in your business and therefore have a vested interest in doing whatever that has to be done to get results. In other words, you probably do the job of at least 3 full time employees in the time you spend at the office. Experience, industry knowledge, sales ability, and ultimate commitment to making things work makes you almost irreplaceable. What might happen if you or your partner were not there to contribute?
Sales Executives are Key to Growing Revenue and Profits
There is a quote by Rob Hendrickson that says, “Sales is not everything, but it’s always the first thing.” In other words, with every company, sales must come first or there is no company. Therefore, if your business is successful, you definitely have one or more top producing sales people that are driving income. Top sales people are one of the best examples of key employees and the loss of one of your best sales executives could devastate your business.
Gurus in Their Field May Be Irreplaceable
If your organization derives its proceeds from a specialized technology, an invention that is backed by patents or a distinctive niche product or service, there is definitely a key mastermind behind this work. Employees like this are exceptional and in many cases are not easily replaced. A great example is Apple’s founder Steve Jobs. Mr. Jobs, founded Apple Computers many years ago and his marketing and product development vision has transformed our very way of life. His recent death has left a void at Apple and it is yet to be seen how it will impact the company moving forward. Sure they are a massive company with an extremely large talent pool but your company is likely not. The bottom line is that you may be able to protect your company by having documented processes and plans of action for repeating these potential results but may not ever be able to accomplish this for many reasons. If you have a Guru technology person, you should protect the company against the death or disability of this key employee.
Summary
If you have been in business very long, you certainly understand the importance of your employees to the overall performance of your business. For most companies, finding and developing these key people is very time consuming and costly. Therefore, it is imperative that you protect your company against the death or disability of one of these vital team members. For more information or to discuss options, call NOW toll free at (877) 583-3955. You can also receive a free instant key employee insurance quote here.