By Carmen Greger
You can’t be your best self by yourself.
Likely, you have heard these words of wisdom in the context of achieving personal goals, but they apply precisely to business as well, especially in launch phase, a vulnerable and potentially fragile period. Set yourself up for success at the get-go; Hire an individual or service and delegate tasks for which your level of expertise is not required.
While it is vital for the CEO of a new company to be ‘hands-on’, there are only so many hours in the day; time is a commodity that needs to be respected, valued, and seized.
A successful business cannot afford to trade hours for dollars and operate on a hand-to-mouth system. Launching into overwhelm, frustration, wheel-spinning, exhaustion, and burnout will happen way before reaching the company’s long-term goals.
It is understandable and to a moderate extent commendable that many entrepreneurs want a say and a hand in every detail of the day-to-day operations, regardless of size or weight of the task, however ‘hoarding’ all of the responsibilities, minor decisions and mundane tasks Is a self-sabotaging recipe for disaster.
A willingness to delegate and ‘let-go’ of the natural tendency to ‘control’ that many founders have, given that the company is fundamentally their ’offspring’ and the innate call is for heightened and involved nurturing, will prove beneficial.
Expansion and proper task assignment is value-added, and will enhance the impact, longevity, vitality, success, and profit margins of the company.
Know your strengths, unique skills, and abilities, as well as your weaknesses, and measure these in accordance with simple and robotic duties, projects, and responsibilities, and outsource accordingly.
Say you are a skilled interior designer and own a design business serving multiple high-end customers, charging 250 per client per hour and have a two month waiting list, you are much better off hiring an administrative assistant who can do weekly client scheduling, billing and customer service calls, or if that’s too daunting a release for you to honor, at least begin with the folding of letters, stuffing of envelopes, delegation of receiving product orders and their delivery, and perhaps crafting and sending emails to existing or potential clients.
Outsourcing tasks is a win-win. There is someone out there in the world who wants and/or needs the work you can/should offer. Such administrative assistants can be found virtually via google such as ‘My Out Desk’ or ‘TheMomProject.com’, who proudly claims their “advanced algorithm will match you with highly-experienced and top-notch assistants ready to get to work, and grow your business’, in the ‘at-home-parent’ seeking part-time work while the kids are in school population, a high-school or college student, an intern eager to learn the ropes of entrepreneurship, or a second job for a full-time employee at another company whose salary simply doesn’t make ends meet.
Creating an opportunity for others, while serving your passions, your clients, your goals, your dreams, and your company is a wise and worthy business decision. It’s time for Growth Planned Expansion.
You can’t be your best self by yourself; Outsource to uplevel.
