This Year, Focus on the Essential
One of the drums we often beat in these articles is the importance of delegation but as a new year begins, it might be helpful to look at the question of delegation through the frame of what it costs a business owner not to delegate.
Where Do You Shine?
When starting a new business entrepreneurs wear dozens of hats, “chief janitor” almost always among them. It’s an exciting time, and bootstrapping and being careful with spending in those early days pays off not just in cash flow but in knowing inside out the roles you hope to delegate. But that delegation has to happen as soon as (or sometimes, even a little bit before) cash flow allows for it. Because the key question is, “What’s your time worth?”
Whatever number you come up with, start going through the tasks you currently have on your plate and ask yourself if this task fits with the unique skill sets you bring to the table. If not, the company is in all likelihood overpaying you.
The easy example is the “chief janitor” role. Clearly there would be someone else who could handle such duties who doesn’t add the same value that the business owner does.
A more subtle example would be an email newsletter or a blog that a business owner refuses to delegate because he/she thinks no one else can do it. But even if such business owners only value their time at $150/hour, and a writer charges $75/hour, the company is paying roughly double the market rate for these services. Is it likely that the business owner writes twice as well as people who only write for a living? No.
Business owners have to be ruthless: every single task that takes up their time needs to be audited and held up to this scrutiny. Don’t let the company overpay you for your services. Stop with the chief janitor stuff, already.
Another Frame
One of the books we really love here at Apex is Marty Neumeier’s Zag. One of the points of a brand audit he proposes is to answer your company’s “only _____ that _____.” For example, “the only plumber that can be at your home in 90 minutes or less” or “the only sales coaching with a money back guarantee.” You can apply that same frame to your task list.
Am I the best person at the company for _____ task?
Am I the only person at the company for _____ task?
If the answer to the first question is “Yes,” hopefully the task fits with your skill set, because it probably means that’s where your own company is getting its best value with you.
If the answer to the second question is also “Yes,” then this probably belongs on your list, unless that task is not an area in which you shine, in which case maybe it’s time to bring in someone who is better than you at that task.
When you start to realize that failing to delegate not just costs you time, but costs your company, and hence you, money, you might arrest the desire to put out every fire, fix every problem, and insist that only you can handle a task. Business owners who don’t delegate don’t make their businesses attractive propositions for buyers, whose eyes can glaze over when these sellers list all of their daily and weekly tasks. No thanks.
Almost all entrepreneurs who have successfully exited their businesses have learned the lesson of delegation, and the sooner they learned it, the bigger their exit was.
Are you having problems delegating or identifying where you add the most value as a business owner? We’d love to talk with you and help you figure that out!
