Many of us abide by the mantra, “if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.” But when you’re running a business, you just can’t do everything. It’s extremely common for entrepreneurs to feel pressed to play many roles in their business, and this leads to burnout. Delegation is a crucial skill that will free up your time to get important things done.
When To Start Delegating In Your Startup
How many hours do you spend on tasks that could easily be delegated to someone else? Each hour you spend responding to emails, making calls, managing social media pages and changing your toner are hours in which you could be growing your business.
If less than 75 percent of the time you spend working on your startup is billable time, you need to delegate. Small, unimportant tasks might be holding you back from making more money and expanding your startup. The more you delegate, the more time you will have to do high-priority tasks, or even just relax and refresh.
Remember, you are not an employee. You are a CEO. You should be able to gradually build a business that can function without your help with day-to-day operations. The more you are able to delegate, the sooner you will have the option of selling your business to a new owner.
Why You CAN Afford To Delegate Responsibilities
If you’re like many entrepreneurs, your business is funded by good, old-fashioned bootstrapping. Perhaps your business is still not profitable enough for you to earn a sustainable salary. Even so, you can afford to start delegating.
Outsourcing to a freelancer is a very affordable way to get simple tasks done. Easy, yet time-consuming tasks that involve very little expertise, such as data entry or copy-and-pasting, can be outsourced Fiverr. Avoid hiring designers and copywriters for the lowest possible rates; cheap work in these areas will result in designs and web copy that devalue your business’ reputation. You don’t need to expunge your budget on a highly paid professional; there are great mid-range freelancers who excel when working for startups.
Your energy and motivation are limited resources. Delegating even personal chores, such as picking up packages from the post office or dropping off clothes at the dry cleaner’s, frees up your finite and valuable time for highly productive work.
Startup Delegation Done Right
When cost is not a factor, communication is. Provide detailed instructions, along with project goals and deadlines. Be sure to ask for frequent progress updates and provide constructive criticism. Successful delegation takes practice and patience. It means stepping back and trusting your employees to handle new duties. Be sure to reward a good job and increase responsibilities when you find someone whose working style harmonizes with yours.
For all entrepreneurs, time is an extremely valuable commodity. At first, you might feel a little guilty about delegating tasks you could easily do yourself. But you’ll soon realize that every moment counts, and buying time is one of the best decisions you could ever make for your business.