Delegation - The Solo Entrepreneur’s
Secret to Success and Freedom
Solo Entrepreneurs are called upon to perform a wider range of activities as their businesses grow - many outside of his/her skill set: office administration, marketing, sales, bookkeeping, customer relations, working with technology - it never ends! They become overwhelmed by the increasing demand on their time losing their drive and passion for their business. They work harder but find it increasingly difficult to produce results.
56% of new businesses do not survive at least four years according to Small Business Administration (SBA). The # 1 reason for business failure which accounts for 61% of failures, according to Dun & Bradstreet, is “Managerial Incompetence: the skillful use of resources to accomplish a purpose”. “Unbalanced Experience” accounts for 22% of failures – not being skilled or having access to a variety of skills.
Your success and freedom as a solo entrepreneur depend upon your ability to focus on what you love and do best and delegating everything else to others. Delegation is “assigning responsibility and accountability for specific outcomes or achievements to a specific individual or organization unit.” Sounds fairly simple? Why then do so many entrepreneurs find it hard to delegate? What steps can be taken to help entrepreneurs learn to delegate more effectively?
To draw on others’ skills effectively all you have to do is be willing to focus on your own skills or “Unique Talents”. Your Unique Talents are what you love and do best. You have passion for these activities and it creates immense value for your clients. To help you realize your Unique Talents, try this exercise. For a week or two, keep track of all your activities, how you spend your time. When you have completed your list, create another list with four sections: Unique Talents, Excellent, Competent and Incompetent. Go through your activities and classify them under those categories. Any tasks in the Competent and Incompetent categories should be delegated to others. Here are the category definitions to help you:
Unique Talents - These are activities you love doing and do best. You are passionate about doing them. You could do them all day long and probably even would do them for free.
Excellent - You perform these activities better than most people but you don’t feel any passion for them.
Competent – You get by, producing a satisfactory result but you can’t, or have no desire, to improve on these skills.
Incompetent - No matter how hard you try, you waste a lot of valuable time on these activities and end up frustrated and stressed.
Obstacles to Delegation (and clues to recognize them)
- Lack of confidence in others. Clue: "No one does it better than me, besides, it's faster if I do it myself". You may fear that others can't do tasks as well as you can. Even if you do delegate, you feel you must keep track of every detail and worry about what could go wrong.
- Lack of awareness. Clue: "I can't afford help and I don't even know what to delegate". You may simply not be aware of the tasks that can be delegated because you have not invested time to examine your activities and learn about help that you can access.
- An inflated ego. Clue: "My way is the only and best way to do things". Are you a control freak? You may not even realize it - ask your friends or colleagues what they think.
- Confusing action with productivity. Clue: "I'm too busy and don't have time to find help". Are your activities producing results or are you just busy putting out fires? Or you may feel that if you delegate, there will be nothing left for you to do. Nothing could be farther from the truth!
- Fear of taking risks. Clue: "I don't think that anyone can really understand and care about my business like I do". Risks are necessary for business growth. Delegation requires a calculated risk - a risk that you give thoughtful consideration and for which the potential benefits and costs have been weighted and considered.
7 Steps to Delegate Your Way to Freedom and Success
- Recognize that delegation is essential to your success as a solo entrepreneur and that you can’t do it all by yourself. Give yourself permission to “try on” the concept of delegation.
- Take time to analyze all the activities you are doing. Get the support of a Business Coach or an experienced Virtual Assistant to help you with this vital process.
- Examine your options. Is an employee or Virtual Assistant the solution you need? Get all the information you can before making a decision.
- Communicate effectively what you want done. Make sure your standards of performance and expectations are clear, such as what needs to be done and to what degree of detail.
- Define the scope and degree of authority/responsibility given to your employee or Virtual Assistant for the delegated task. Make clear which decisions may be taken independently and which require your approval.
- Set a time limit for completion of project and clearly state the budget available.
- Establish a follow-up calendar. Find a way to handle feedback, updates, advice, and progress reports so you can intervene without holding up the project.
Successful solo entrepreneurs have gone through the growing pains of letting go to get the help they need. By delegating work to others you will be more productive and have the ability to focus on what you do best. Are you ready to make a change? Ask yourself right now: What would it be like to be among the entrepreneurs that succeed? What is the first step I need to take? The world is waiting to be served by your Unique Talents!
Copyright © 2004-2005 Michele Hanson-O’Reggio. All Rights Reserved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michele O’Reggio is the Entrepreneur’s Leverage Coach. She helps entrepreneurs grow their business and get more clients by delegating and using systems like the Get Clients Now!™ sales and marketing system. Claim your FR-EE report “ The Top 7 Clues that you Need Help and Systems” by sending an email to top7clues@getresponse.com and visit Michele’s sites for more information – www.IWantMoreClients.com & www.DelegationCoach.com
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