Spend more time working on the business rather than in it!
The majority of business owners wish they could be less involved in the day to day operations of their businesses. They tend to find themselves involved in every aspect of a business from answering the phone to packing boxes. They feel they have to run the business lean and create the problem of spending too much time working in the business and not on it.
To run a successful business you have to know how to play to your strengths. It’s never easy to micro manage every aspect of your business and it definitely wastes a lot of your valuable time, especially when you could be working on bettering the business. The truth is that whenever you spend time doing things that other people could be doing, you are losing the opportunity to spend valuable time improving and growing the business. You cannot be expected to excel at everything in business. And if you get bogged down with details that other people could handle quite competently, you’re not going to be an effective or efficient business leader.
If you think in financial terms, the founder of any business is the most expensive person in the business. So instead of spending time micromanaging your employees, the easiest solution is to have the right people in your team who can efficiently manage those tasks.
As the leader of your business you are responsible for identifying problems and delegating solutions. You are responsible for setting goals and thinking about the future. The only person in your company who will be genuinely motivated to grow your company is you. Every minute that you spend working on tasks that can be delegated is a minute that you are not planning, strategising and building the best business possible.
Below are the main issues that must be addressed to transition from doer to manager/leader:
- Pushing yourself – You need to have the drive to move away from the day to day tasks and getting out of your comfort zone and learning new things and unlearning old habits.
- Right people – To succeed you need to have the right people in the right spot in your business. Make sure that the wrong people are removed from the business, or redeployed to more suitable areas.
- Non-negotiable standards – Ultimately your reputation and the reputation of your business will be derived from the quality standards and culture you create for the company. Setting standards takes time and effort. The standards should be well thought out and aggressively communicated, and they should be lived.
- Training – Staff are never perform to your expectations unless the right level of training and supervision has been delivered. Invest in your people.
- Delegation – Accept that sometimes staff will not be as efficient or do the job as well as you. Put in the time to delegate properly and give staff a chance, you might be surprised by the results and a renewed level of engagement. Accept that you are not the only competent person in the team.
This is why it’s important to work on your business, not in your business. You are in charge of the big picture. When you see areas that need improvement, empower others to find solutions so you can continue to be the visionary that you need to be. It may take some practice if you’re used to getting really hands on in your business but your employees will appreciate the trust and responsibility you give them.
