You Don't Have to Go It Alone. It's Time to Let Go and Let Others Help.
You can find it in just about every industry: an entrepreneur who spreads themself too thin because they don't wish to or they are simply unable to delegate critical tasks to others. But when is it time to stop doing everything yourself?
This is a question that entrepreneurs fail to ask themselves until their businesses begin to suffer the consequences. While it's more common among new entrepreneurs, even seasoned veterans still have some difficulty delegating the tasks they feel are best served by handling them personally.
But an entrepreneur can be his or her own worst enemy in that regard. Taking on too many tasks and responsibilities all too often results in a failure to maintain a high standard of quality in operations.
One person cannot do it all. Don't make the mistake of standing in your own way. When you do it all yourself, you're asking to fail. It's that simple. Entrepreneurs never realize they're making it harder on themselves until they're faced with the results of that failure.
Going it alone
Should you or shouldn't you? That's the question many entrepreneurs are asking themselves each and every day and, at first, they have no choice but to do everything on their own. But this may be suitable for the initial phases of the business. Money is tight, you can't hire much help anyway and you are left with little choice but to take on all of the important tasks alone.
But the goal must always be to place yourself in a leadership role where you have the benefit of owning the business and assigning tasks to your team of employees. An employer who doesn't allow his or her team to do their jobs is wasting money. Let them do their jobs.
When the business starts to grow and you are enjoying increased success and building confidence in yourself and your product or service, the time will come when you realize that your workload is going to multiply. Get ready — it's going to happen pretty quickly and your first inclination will be to manage everything yourself as a way to repeat your successes upon one another.
After all, you were the reason the business has grown this far, why mess with this recipe for success?
That's where most entrepreneurs make their most critical mistakes. Double or triple the workload in the form of increased service calls or purchase orders, partnerships, more opportunities to help you expand your business, whatever it is that spells success for your company is wonderful when it happens.
But when you're doing it all on your own, the challenges of one individual handling the work without assistance can negatively impact that much sought-after growth. A burned-out entrepreneur is a less effective one. It's when double the work becomes double that many business owners start to question if this is still the best way to proceed. Some details are bound to get missed.
Learning on the job
One of the most common reasons behind an entrepreneur choosing to go it alone is to learn more about the industry in which the business is centered. There's no denying it's a great way to get all the hands-on experience one could ever ask for as the business is getting off the ground. Every new entrepreneur will go through some growing pains as mistakes are made.
But there must come a time when school is out and it's time to take a more commanding, professional approach to building a brand. It's important to gain critical education to prepare a business owner for future endeavors, but it's also critical to employ the right personnel so you know you've got the right people on your side. Qualified people whom you can rely upon and trust with delegating important tasks.
Hire the best people and delegate with confidence
Entrepreneurs with the ambition and dedication to do it all themselves can sometimes start to feel burnt out because they have taken on more than they can handle. Does this sound familiar? What about your business? Have you started to feel as if things aren't getting handled in a timely manner? Are you finding the small things are being missed and these are creating large problems?
Some business owners are reluctant to delegate to others because they only trust themselves to do the job right. But when you hire the best possible candidates, you need not worry the job won't get done the way you want.
Team management is time management
When you have the right team in place, your ability to delegate with confidence increases. But it's not something you learn to do overnight and you need strong, talented people who share your vision. That's where the most effective leaders distinguish themselves from the mediocre business owners. When an entrepreneur presents a clear and specific direction for the team, the vision for the future comes into focus. This is the foundation of good team management.
Assign duties to the individuals who are best suited to handle the task at hand. As you get to know your team better, you'll start to realize the strengths and weaknesses of each employee. This can be extremely useful for delegating certain tasks to specific employees who have the skills and the background to do the job most effectively.
When you delegate a task to the team member who can best carry it out, you're managing your time more wisely and efficiently. This will allow you more free time to run the business while your employees carry out their assignments. Be sure you have established a clear course for the project or task to take and a deadline by which it must be completed.
Everything must be set forth clearly and before any task is started, it will reduce the potential for miscommunication and delays. That's your responsibility as the business owner.
Most entrepreneurs who are just starting out face these challenges alone and they are often the better for it. But as the business begins to grow and thrive, the experience becomes less important as more work piles up and mistakes are made. How many entrepreneurs out there feel like there just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done? It's a common refrain and it's often due to a lack of assistance at the right time — so swallow your pride, ask for help and delegate the right tasks to the right people.