general manager
General Manager is the person who runs the daily business of a company or branch, answering for profit, staff, and operations under the owners or board.
In plain English
So who actually owns the headache when the shop runs out of stock, a customer complains, and two staff call in sick, all on the same Monday morning? That question has an answer, and the answer is usually the General Manager.
A General Manager, often shortened to GM, is the person hired to run the whole show day to day, even though they may not own a single share of the business. The owners set the direction and hold the risk, but the GM is the one who turns that direction into rosters, targets, supplier calls, and closing figures every single day.
Think about a hotel in Lekki owned by three business partners who live abroad and only fly in twice a year. Someone still has to hire the front desk staff, negotiate with the laundry vendor, decide when to discount rooms in the slow season, and explain to the owners why last month's revenue dropped. That someone is the General Manager, carrying the operational weight so the owners can focus on strategy and money.
In the United Kingdom, a supermarket chain like Tesco has a General Manager for each large store, answering to regional management above and supervising department heads below. The title travels well because every business, whether a school, a factory, or a chain of pharmacies, needs one person who can be asked, plainly, why things went right or wrong that week.
For a Nigerian in the diaspora sending money home to fund a family business, the GM is often the person you actually trust with the day to day, even if a relative technically owns it. You send the capital, the GM sends the reports, and the whole arrangement only works if that report is honest and the numbers add up.
A restaurant owner in Abuja who lives mostly in London pays a General Manager ₦350,000 a month to oversee thirty staff, manage supplier payments, and send weekly sales reports, while the owner focuses on opening a second branch instead of chasing daily receipts.
Questions people ask
Is a General Manager the same as a Chief Operating Officer?
They are close cousins. A Chief Operating Officer usually sits at the top of a larger company overseeing multiple departments or branches, while a General Manager typically runs one branch, one store, or one full business unit under that structure.
Does a General Manager need to own part of the business?
No. Most General Managers are salaried employees with no shares at all. Some businesses do offer a GM a small percentage or bonus tied to profit to keep them motivated, but ownership is not a requirement for the role.
What should a business owner check before hiring a General Manager?
Look for someone who has handled money and people before, ask for references who can confirm honesty with cash and stock, and start with clear written targets so you can measure their work rather than just trusting their word.
Last reviewed