Choosing the Best Integrator in Business: Online Business Manager or Integrator?

Are you a successful entrepreneur that can't decide if your business needs an online business manager or a business integrator? Are you ready to get all of the 'doing' off of your plate?

By the end of this video, you’ll learn if your business is ready for an online business manager or integrator and the difference between the two roles so you can hire the role that fits your business the best for the best entrepreneurship business strategy and systems advice.

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I’ve been working with entrepreneurs and business owners for over a decade, anywhere from five figures to eight figures in revenue annually and this is one of the most common questions that I get when I meet someone new. I’ll be taking you through the same explanation and thought process I share with them. That includes the three key differences between these roles to help you determine which is the right role for your business.

While the Visionary and Integrator roles are distinct, they share a common goal: to drive the company's success.

Before we discuss why these roles are different, let me take a moment to describe how these roles are similar.

While the Visionary and Integrator roles are distinct, they share a common goal: to drive the company’s success. Both roles are essential to the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) and work together to achieve operational excellence. The Visionary and Integrator are both part of the leadership team and are responsible for ensuring the company operates efficiently and effectively. They must work together to create a clear company vision, establish a strong company culture, and drive business growth.

Understanding the Role of an Integrator

An Integrator is a critical role in a business, responsible for ensuring the company operates smoothly and efficiently. The Integrator’s primary function is to integrate the major functions of the business, including sales, marketing, operations, and finance. They are responsible for creating a clear process for achieving the company’s vision and goals, and for ensuring that all teams are working together towards a common objective.

The Integrator’s role is often compared to that of a General Manager, as they are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the business. They must be able to balance the big picture with the details, ensuring that the company is operating efficiently and effectively. The Integrator is also responsible for holding the leadership team accountable for their roles and responsibilities, and for ensuring that the company is on track to meet its goals.

Dive into the specific functions and responsibilities that define an Integrator’s role in a business.

Some of the key responsibilities of an Integrator include:

• Creating a clear process for achieving the company’s vision and goals

• Ensuring that all teams are working together towards a common objective

• Holding the leadership team accountable for their roles and responsibilities

• Ensuring that the company is operating efficiently and effectively

• Balancing the big picture with the details

• Creating a strong company culture

• Driving business growth

Key Qualities of a Successful Integrator

A successful Integrator must possess certain key qualities and skills. Some of the most important include:

• Strong leadership skills: The Integrator must be able to lead the leadership team and ensure that all teams are working together towards a common objective.

• Operational expertise: The Integrator must have a deep understanding of the business and its operations, and be able to create a clear process for achieving the company’s vision and goals.

• Communication skills: The Integrator must be able to communicate effectively with all teams and stakeholders, and ensure that everyone is on the same page.

• Accountability: The Integrator must be able to hold the leadership team accountable for their roles and responsibilities, and ensure that the company is on track to meet its goals.

• Cost efficiency: The Integrator must be able to balance the company’s budget and ensure that resources are being used efficiently.

• Business acumen: The Integrator must have a deep understanding of the business and its operations, and be able to make informed decisions that drive business growth.

By possessing these key qualities and skills, an Integrator can play a critical role in driving the company’s success and achieving operational excellence.

Explore the essential traits and skills that make an Integrator effective in their role.

Before we discuss why these roles are different. Let me take a moment to describe how these roles are similar within the leadership team.

Online business managers and integrators are both the lead doers in a business. Sometimes they’re even called the virtual chief operating officer. The entrepreneur or visionary CEO is the person that identifies the what in the business. The mission, vision, values, ideas, products and strategies.

The business manager or integrator is how these things get done by managing all the moving parts that bring the whats to life, creating a plan, prioritizing projects, motivating the team and making sure they get done in time. They filter and transform the visionary's ideas into actionable plans, ultimately making sure that you have the right team working on the right projects at the right time to maximize the growth of your business.

The business manager or integrator and visionary CEO relationship can be a truly synergistic partnership with each side doing what they do best to grow and scale the business to the next level. A business does not usually need a dedicated person in this type of role until the business is near or well into the six figure and above annual revenue mark with a proven consistent revenue stream or streams.

If you’re a CEO who wants to create or amplify your revenue streams or connect more to your audience to build your brand, but instead you’re stuck also trying to manage all the projects in the business and delegate tasks to the team every day. It might be time for you to consider adding this type of role to your team.

Comment below and tell me if your business either currently has someone in this integrator online business manager role or if your business is ready for you to bring one onto your team.

So now that I’ve talked about how the roles are similar, let’s discuss how they’re different so you can determine which is the best for your business. It all comes down to the three R’s, revenue, responsibilities and relationship.

Revenue

While both online business managers and integrators work with businesses that are at a six figure and above in annual revenue. Online business managers typically work with businesses that are in that early to mid six figure range that are trying to scale up to a seven figure annual revenue. Integrators on the other hand, typically work with businesses that are about to tip over into that seven figure annual revenue or well into it and trying to scale beyond seven figures annually.

Why is that the case? Well, that takes me to my next point.

Relationship

One of the biggest differences between an online business manager and an integrator is the working relationship with the business owner. Integrators are typically brought in as actual employees of the business that are often full time online. It is crucial to find the right person for the Integrator role to ensure operational success and clarity in roles.

Business managers are typically are hired and work with entrepreneurs and businesses as an independent contractor and depending on the size, scale and type of the business that the entrepreneur has. An online business manager can be brought on at different levels of engagement due to this independent contractor relationship. This means that you can hire an online business manager at the level your business needs instead of bringing on a full time employee.

Responsibilities

Both roles have the responsibility of making sure the business has the right people doing the right projects at the right time and ensuring that the business is operating as efficiently as possible. An accountability chart can be a valuable tool in this process, helping to define organizational structure and responsibilities clearly.

However, partially due to the reasons we’ve already discussed around being a full-time employee for a million-dollar business, the General Manager ensures that the business operates effectively on a day-to-day basis while the integrator often also takes an even bigger role in operations functions like HR, legal, and accounting or finance.

Now, this isn’t to say that an OBM can’t help you with these types of projects, but the integrator role is specifically designed to execute the visionary's ideas, align teams, and promote accountability. I’ve often helped my clients in these areas, but it’s not a typical OBM task.

If your business is ready for an online business manager, fill out the application form linked below. And if you want to learn more about my signature program, The Vision Accelerator, the link is below in the video description or you can sign up to my mailing list to get the most up-to-date tips and advice emailed directly to you. And that link is also in the video description below.

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