Delegate your tasks or risk stunting your company’s growth. It’s your choice.
Most small business owners are used to doing things on their own. They prefer to take care of everything personally ? from making all the critical business decisions to handling sales and providing most of the customer service duties, among other things.?
However, you need to know that doing all of these things without anyone’s help can be a daunting task. Not only will it increase your risk of burning yourself out, it will also limit your company’s growth potential. As such, running a one-person show can actually do you and your business more harm than good.
So, how can you avoid such things from happening? Well, there’s one thing you can do to make things right ? delegate. Here’s how you do it.
Choose which tasks can be delegated down. Tasks that do not require any specific expertise can be delegated down to a trusted assistant. If you don’t have one, then it’s time to consider hiring and training someone for the job. Don’t worry about the cost. Remember, you will be freeing up a lot of your valuable time so you can devote it to growing your business instead.
Select which functions can be delegated up. You can also do things more effectively by letting someone who has the necessary skills and expertise to take care of some of the tasks you are currently handling. For example, you may want to hire an accountant to handle all the bookkeeping and tax preparation for your business.
Be clear about your expectations. Always provide clear instructions on how you want things done and the results you want to see.
Empower your people. Effective delegation gives your employees the opportunity to grow. It can help them develop their skills and abilities so that they can ultimately provide more value to the organization. To achieve this level of competence, you need to let them make their own decisions without constantly questioning their choices or looking over their shoulders. Give them a chance to prove what they can do and they will repay your trust by giving it their best shot all the time. You can be sure of that!
Let go. If you have been taking care of everything since you started your business, letting others do the job is going to be a challenge. However, you need to let it go. Avoid interfering with the process or you will be putting the final result in jeopardy.
Consider it a long-term investment. While training someone to do the job can take a lot out of your precious time, you will definitely enjoy the fruits of your labor in the near future. Remember, the more time you invest in training your people, the better the results will be.
