We all know them: The sewer master, the hairdresser, the car dealer - all of them smaller, owner-managed businesses.

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They make up roughly 80 per cent of the businesses and have at least one common challenge: gloomy forecasts for 2023. Interest rates and recession are likely to mean many will have to tighten their belts.

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Have you read any of my columns over the past year, you might be thinking: Oh no - here comes another admonition about the need for strategy.

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I'll save you the trouble. Almost. Because the admonition is still entirely appropriate.

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When everyone knows that you, as the owner-manager, are ultimately in charge anyway, it is simply not possible to pretend that you are, for example, just the day-to-day manager.

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The latest figures I've seen - from CBS professor Kasper Meisner Nielsen - show that around 25% of our smaller, owner-managed businesses don't have a strategy at all. And 17 per cent have objectives, but neither analysis nor basis behind them. That's not encouraging reading.

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Yet this time I want to focus on the minority who actually have both a strategy and perhaps even employed a board or staff to ensure it is implemented and embedded in the organisation.

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Last year, I met a number of these front-runners when I followed some  masterclasses on buying and selling businesses around the country. On the way home in the car, the same question often popped into my head: is it even possible to put the responsibility for your life's work in the hands of others - for example a board of directors - you have hired yourself?

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My answer is no.

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ALSO READ Hello top boss: Give the middle manager a fair chance

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Anchoring, delegating and challenging the status quo is necessary. This is where you as an owner can use both a skilled board, staff or - for that matter - consultants. But you can't run away from ownership and responsibility.

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The explanation is simple: when everyone knows that you, as the owner-manager, are ultimately in charge anyway, it is simply not possible to pretend that you are, for example, just the day-to-day manager.

In psychology, we talk about asymmetrical relationships. The kind of relationship where one person is more in charge than another. And they don't become more equal by pretending to be equal. It's like that in all relationships in life.

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When the director attends the company party, she doesn't suddenly become a peer because she gets drunk at the bar. And when you're stopped by the police on the motorway, it's not just "Michael in uniform" asking you to roll down the window.

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As TV host Sofie Linde said in her award-winning Me-Too speech at an award-show a few years ago: "...we can play that game, we sure can do that - but it's not going to be like that".

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If you try to pretend that your ownership doesn't matter, you risk blurring decisions, confusing direction and stressing staff. Because navigating such waters becomes way too difficult.

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Instead, as the owner, you must stand by your power, role and position. Let the board help with direction. Involve your staff in both strategy and idea development. Hire a consultant (if needed) to bring outside perspectives.

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But always take ownership and responsibility.

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This column was published on Jyllands-Posten Finans and in Jyllands-Posten, Erhverv on 20 February 2023.

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If you're interested in learning more about how the digital and easy-to-use MakeMyStrategy™ platform can help you blaze a trail to a safe course, great results and increased business value - then contact us at info@makemystrategy.com or book a demo HERE