As a new business owner, you are probably well aware that there are many reasons to delegate. You also may have heard conflicting advice that it’s important to know all the facets of your business from the inside out before hiring.
So, what do you do? Who do you listen to?
Here are seven reasons you should’ve been delegating from day one and could probably be loosening up on your business reins right about now.
Reason #1 Get the important stuff done faster and better
There are people who are just faster and better at some things you are not. They consult you, then get the stuff done that you can’t do. This doesn’t take away the fact that this is your business and that you are the inspiration. In fact, it shows that you are willing to hire the talent to expand on your vision. Think about the things that you have been asking to add to your business that require a skillset that you do not currently have. Now add the number of years it would take to get good at it and then bite your hand and call the experts. You will be thrilled by the results, I was.
Reason #2 Don’t take all the punches yourself
Every business experiences upsets, losses and letdowns. When you have a team of people that work for you and with you, those losses are felt as a team and the regroup happens faster. Having your team on retainer or on speed dial means that you can have someone assist with an upset in your business so that you don’t have to take the brunt of it yourself and you can receive expert advice on how to steer out of it.
Reason #3 You have the corner office, act like it
Take all the years that it took you to get really good at what you do, now add all the money you spent on educating yourself, now add in the talent and capacities that you have innately. Try to put a dollar value per hour on that. Now compare that to the dollars per hour that an assistant, who would make your whole life easier, would be grateful to receive. See the difference? Should you really be charging your business $500 per hour for photocopying or filing? I think not.
Reason #4 It’s lonely at the Top
A friend of mine says that the only thing she misses from working in an office is the office Christmas party. Part of having a bright assistant or a team of awesome contractors is that you can bounce ideas and get inspired with what you are going to create next. You may be surprised at what they can add to your business, it’s a lot more than shuffling paper.
Reason #5 Tiger Woods
There’s an old joke: Why does Tiger Woods have a coach? Because he can’t see himself swing. Having people on your team can sometimes mean that when you do think of making an important decision for your business, there might be another person that asks you, “Why are you thinking of doing that?” Hindsight is 20/20 and as a new business owner, maybe you don’t have the time or the financial resources to indulge in hindsight?
Reason #6 Magic Butlers
There is a certain magic in working with people who understand you and your vision vs working alone. A synchronicity happens where people get excited about working on your projects and begin to anticipate your needs and start to take on your vision with you. Imagine having your needs anticipated? Almost like having your own magic butler; sounds terrible doesn’t it?
Reason #7 The Buck Starts Here
This is the gut punch. A whopping 73% of entrepreneurs report mental illness symptoms such as anxiety, insomnia and depression. Delegating tasks to reliable assistants or contractors takes a lot of strain off of you as the business owner and gets you doing the work that brings in the actual cash. You can even ask yourself, “Are these tasks actually billable?” If they are not, then they are ripe for delegation. If this sounds like you, there are coaches and facilitators like myself, who work with all facets of growing a business, including tools to manage those sleepless nights.
In my personal experience, it is not easy to start delegating. What I have discovered is that by inviting people to work with me in my business, I was able to do more, in less time and the bonus? My business actually took off financially when I hired my amazing assistant. How does it get better than this?
Author's bio; Jennifer Cramer Lewis loves showing people simple changes they can make to drastically improve their financial welfare. With over 20 years in business and finance, including careers in Banking, Real Estate Sales and Management, and Mortgage Broking, she has always found it easy and natural to implement processes to heighten productivity. These skills combined with her love of people meant that financial coaching was a natural progression from working within other people's businesses. She is a facilitator for Right Riches for You, a specialty program of Access Consciousness. She has written two bestselling books and is mum to two fantastic teens who are learning early to master the language of prosperity. Follow her on YouTube.