I am a self diagnosed control freak.
I'll admit it, when things do not go my way I get severe anxiety... sweaty palms, quickened heart rate, and then start to obsess over the things I CAN control.
In the 5 years as a business owner I have learned the fine art of delegation out of necessity. If my business is going to grow and be successful I had to invest in good structuring (ie: hiring business consultants and coaches help me create a solid infrastructure that supported my growth) and then I had to delegate things that either I didn't know how to do, or didn't have time to do.
To be honest, even if I did have the time to the administrative things that I delegated, I wouldn't have, because it wasn't where my time was best spent. What do I mean by that?
Here is what I mean.
I could take valuable time out of my day doing things I could pay someone to do while I do things that I'm really good at like growing a business, providing my clients with incredible service, and making money. OR I could organize my Google Drive, file documents, and do data entry that is honestly not where my time is best spent.
In order to LET GO it took getting clear about the following things:
- Where am I spending my time? I had to document where the hours in my day were going and what kind of revenue that labor produced.
- If I paid someone to handle these tasks what would the cost be? I did a "Cost/Benefit Analysis of what it would take for someone to do these tasks, how much time it would free up, and what I could do with that time.
- Could I develop a system and operating procedure that would teach someone how to easily manage and maintain these tasks? This required me sitting down, listing the tasks and creating a routing, operating procedure, and system to manage the tasks so I would feel comfortable knowing they are going to get done.
Once I did all of these things I finally began the processes of hiring people to manage these things for me and started the process of delegating. It was honestly one of the best things I've ever done.
I now have an incredible staff that handles all of the super important and time consuming tasks that go in to the dailies of my business. As a result I am able to do all of the big idea things that go in to GROWING and SCALING this incredible business, the community building that is so near and dear to my heart, and the consulting and strategizing that I truly enjoy!
If your time is better planning a class, networking, and doing big idea things for your business, delegate! Don't waste your precious time doing things that someone else could easily do while you do what YOU are good at!
Comments