Let’s start with something simple. Many small business hiring mistakes look like performance issues, but they’re usually systems issues.
This article isn’t about assistants, entry-level staff, or new grads. This is about roles designed with decision-making authority – managers, leads, and senior hires brought in specifically so you’re not the only one steering the business every day.
If you hired someone like that and they still can’t take things in the direction you want, most of the time it’s not a hiring issue.
It’s a systems issue.
Small businesses hire roles before defining the long-term problem.
This happens all the time:
- “We need more leads.” → Hire a marketing manager
- “We need stable inventory.” → Hire an operations manager
- “We need better cost visibility.” → Hire a finance manager
The role becomes the solution, even though the real problem was never articulated. Often, what’s described is a pain point. Something visible right now but not the deeper issue that affects long-term growth.
So the person comes in and does what they know how to do. But because their work doesn’t fit into anything bigger, they operate without a cog to lock into. And without that fit, they naturally keep coming back to you for approval.
Eventually, the owner thinks:
“Why do I still have to tell them what to do?”
Simple:
Because the system is missing.
This is the part corporate quietly gets right even with all its flaws.
Most of us who came from corporate know this: even in all the chaos, there is always direction.
Profitability is the end goal, sure – but the path changes depending on what the business needs:
a. Build a customer base → better awareness, conversion, loyalty
b. Cut unnecessary costs → revise processes, eliminate leakage
c. Expand the business → decide which channels, products, or markets
Corporate teams aren’t necessarily told every step. But they operate inside a system that gives them context, which lets them make decisions. They know what the business is trying to do, even if priorities shift.
That context is what small businesses often lack.
Why managers struggle in SMEs: micro goals with no macro direction.
Most SMEs think in terms of:
- daily sales
- this week’s orders
- monthly revenue
- campaign performance
- immediate fires
Again, none of this is wrong. These metrics matter.
But they’re not the big picture.
You still need clarity on:
- the kind of business you want to grow into
- the capabilities required to get there
- the long-term direction
- the KPIs tied to the future, not just today
A KPI isn’t supposed to describe what’s happening now.
A KPI should describe where you want the business to be.
And it’s normal to prioritize some KPIs and let others rest for a year or two. Early stages usually mean tighter margins. Expansion often means one channel grows while another stagnates.
These trade-offs are fine as long as they’re tied to long-term direction.
Because when your KPIs are shallow, your hire will think shallow too. Not because they lack skill, but because there is no strategic horizon attached to their work.
This is the real disconnect.
People don’t fix direction. Direction allows people to perform.
If the business doesn’t have:
- a clear long-term goal
- prioritized levers
- a basic workflow
- defined decision rights
- an understanding of what “good” looks like
- metrics tied to the future, not the present
…then even the best manager will default to:
“What should I do next?”
People can’t fill a strategic gap that doesn’t exist.
Direction doesn’t come from the hire. Direction comes from the business.
Before hiring, ask this first:
“What problem will this role solve and how does solving it help me get to where I want to be in two years?”
If you can’t answer that clearly, you don’t need a manager yet.
You need:
- clarity
- direction
- and a system
Once those exist, people can finally perform the way you expect them to.
And if they still can’t? Then yes at that point, it becomes an HR or recruitment issue.
But not before.
