Being an entrepreneur or a small business owner is tough but it can be tougher still if you are unable or unwilling to delegate.
Indeed, not delegating tasks to other people is a major cause of burn out among business owners the world over.
Controlling the Desire to Control
The desire to control all the moving elements and be involved in every aspect of your business can be so incredibly strong that you might not always realise the extent to which it is eating your life away.
We all have only 24 hours a day to work with and some of that time needs to be spent sleeping, eating and doing something other than work.
In a sense, that means time is our only truly limited resource.
Doing It Yourself
When you start out in launching a business venture it can seem natural for you to do everything yourself.
So you are the business mastermind, the content creator, the tech guy and the customer support.
That’s all good and well when you’re first starting out, but are your just starting out?
As your business grows, you’ll get to the point where there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do it all yourself.
That’s when you know it’s time to start outsourcing and delegating elements of your work to other people.
Start Slow and Stay Profitable
Don’t feel like you have to outsource everything all at once.
Instead start with one task or one particular part of your business.
If making graphics isn’t your strong suit, it may be a good place to start. Or maybe you want to outsource customer service elements to leave yourself with more time for product creation.
The key is to start small when it comes to delegation.
Pick one little project and find someone to do it for you.
Word-of-mouth recommendation from a trusted source who understands your needs is always the best place to start.
You can also look on websites like PeoplePerHour, Elance or even Fiverr, which all have an array of service providers listed who will be eager to work with you.
Whichever option you go for you should always carry out some due diligence and get references, testimonials and look at their portfolio of work.
There is no harm at all in delegating work to someone who doesn’t speak English as a first language, if their expertise is what you need. But it is important to keep your communications simple in these situations and to be particularly clear about what you need if you are working with someone who doesn’t speak perfect English.
Once you have an outsourced person lined up then you should give them one project to work on and see how it goes. Be prepared to be patient in the beginning. It may take some time and feedback for the other person to get an idea of what you want.
Build Your Team
Once you get that first person trained and in tune with your way of thinking, start expanding and building your team as funds allow.
Think about what skills you want to outsource and what your team should look like.
As you find people you enjoy working with, do what you can to keep them on board. That means sending them work regularly and paying promptly.
Do that along with being kind and it won’t take you long to build a team that’s knowledgeable and loyal.
Spend the time your team is saving you on expanding your business. You want to make sure you can pay them well and still stay profitable.
Keep What You Love – Outsource The Rest
Your end goal should be to leave yourself more time to focus on doing the work you enjoy doing, or those tasks that are crucial to your business expansion.
In other words, work on what you love to do and outsource the rest.
Not only will this leave you plenty of time to focus on money making tasks, it also makes sure you continue to love what you do.
I would love to hear your experiences and insights into delegating and letting go, please leave your comments in the box below.
And if this post has inspired you, please share it with your friends and business contacts on social media especially, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
