Mind Masters

Fall and winter is on us I have been without an assistant/bookkeeper since early summer. My dilemma, should I find someone new, continue to handle it all myself or find a couple of people who I can cross train, so I don’t have to go through this again, and again? Over the years I have recognized that of all the things you can do to make your business a success, perhaps the most important is to stop trying to do everything yourself. If you are not delegating, you may destroy your business in the long term. Yes, it's true. Your hard work, the long hours you put in, and your personal attention to every detail may be hurting—not helping—your business.

Almost inevitably when I have seen a business fail, or a business owner just give up, a major (or at least contributing) cause was the inability or unwillingness of the owner to delegate. Tragically, many of these businesses were just at the point where they were really taking off. Business was good. Customers were lined up at the door. But the owner tried to do everything. Why did they through in the towel? Because there was just too much work for one person.

I had a friend once who used this statement to define what she needed to do in her business “Do what you do best, and hire out the rest”. As we move toward the middle of the year, do what you do best, then look and see what you can delegate.

posted by Debra Simpson @ 3:52 PM