Monday 5 October 2009

Letting Go

One of the main issues I see with small businesses is the same problem I had myself and that is letting go. This is not an issue with the digestive system but the fact that so many entrepreneurs are also control freaks and just cannot delegate or see the benefit of taking on new staff. They are stuck in a catch 22. "By the time I have told someone else, I could do it myself" or "I can't afford another salary so I do it myself". Both statements could be true but if you don't change the way you work, the business will never grow.

Let's examine the first statement. Handing over routine jobs to staff will motivate them and even if they make mistakes, they should get there in the end. It's difficult but necessary. Assume they will make mistakes and then you can only be pleasantly surprised.

The second statement is the biggest dilemma for most business people but if for example you consider yourself to be the best salesperson in the business, why are you bogging yourself down with accounts, admin, HR etc? You release your time to sell and guess what? You can afford the extra salary and what's more, you will make more money into the bargain. Many of the aforementioned jobs can also be carried out by part timers, homeworkers and contractors.

Finally, if you think you are overloading your staff by passing over work to them, my experience has been that staff can always make themselves look busy but are not often working at capacity.

1 comment:

  1. I can see why it would be hard to cut the apron strings. Your business is your baby, after all. I think some business mentoring goes a long way. You can sound out new ideas and get your very own motivational speaker - someone who has faced the same issues as you have.

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