Delegation magic: how to let go and grow your business
Not only do I have a group of amazing clients who have brought me into their business to outsource and delegate tasks, I also have two lovely VA’s in my team who I outsource and delegate to. I thought I’d take the opportunity to draw on what I’ve learned on both sides to share the best ways to outsource, build trust in your team and free up time for strategic growth.
Why is delegation essential for business growth
To delegate is defined as to “entrust (a task or responsibility) to another person. When you run a small business, typically you’re a bit of a one man band and you’re wearing all the hats. If you want to grow your business though, you have to start thinking about sharing the hats and bringing people in who can take on some of your tasks to create space for strategic decisions, creativity and scaling. If you continue to do all of the tasks, it won’t leave you with enough time (or energy) to make those decisions or implement new ideas to actually grow your business.
Where do you start with knowing what to delegate?
Decided what to delegate first is often one of the biggest hurdles business owners have. I’ve sat on a number of discovery calls where the business owner says I need help, I don’t know what I need help with but I just know that I can’t do it alone anymore! This feeling is totally relatable but in order to actually get a return on investment when it comes to outsourcing, you need to think about what tasks you want to outsource and delegate. The thing I always suggest to potential clients is to find some time to sit down and write a big list of every task that needs doing in your business to make it run. Once you have your list you can split it up into what you love and therefore want to keep, what is your area of expertise and therefore should keep and then you’ll be left with the tasks that don’t make your heart happy and are also not your area of expertise. These are the tasks that you can consider outsourcing. It’s also recommended to outsource smaller, repetitive tasks first so that whoever you’ve brought into the team can take responsibility for that one regular task and learn quicker than doing a bunch of different things.
When is the right time to start outsourcing?
Most business owners hire once they’re, overwhelmed, burnt out, missing out on opportunities and desperate. This is actually the worst time to outsource. You really need to start outsourcing work when you’re in a comfortable place so that you have the energy to make good decisions and you have the time to work with your new team member rather than just throw work at them and hope it sticks. I’ve found for me, I started growing my team when I was at a place that I could do all of the work I needed to do, I was bringing in enough income that I could afford to pay myself, my bills and someone else and I was starting to turn down enquiries that I wanted to take because I would have been too overwhelmed to take them on my own. I saw a tip online that said if you’re worried about the financial impact of starting to outsource, set up a pot (or space depending on who you bank with) in your account where you pay the amount that you’d be paying to someone else each month and do this for a few months before you outsource, this means you know you can afford to pay the new member of the team and also it acts as a little buffer so if you do have a slower month, you’ve already got a couple of months worth of money to pay them with.
How do you outsource without losing control?
This is such a common fear for business owners and I totally get it. You've built your business from the ground up, you’re so proud of what you’ve created and you’re ready to scale but you’re scared that you’re going to lose control and someone else is going to take over your business. To make sure that doesn’t happen there are a few things you need to consider and make sure you have in place before you start growing your team. Firstly, it’s important to understand who to bring in, if you only want someone to help with your finances then don’t bring an online business manager on board. Once you know what kind of service you need, think about the kind of person you want. Set up discovery calls with a few different people and see how their energy feels, do you feel calm talking to them, do you feel more frantic than you did before? I think this is one of those things that you do need to trust your gut a little bit with. Once you’ve found the right person for you, to make sure things all go to plan, you’ll need to set clear expectations from the start and ensure consistent communication throughout. This goes both ways so it’s important to not only share information with the new member of the team but also give them opportunities to share feedback. One thing that sometimes helps business owners that I’ve worked with to go into the ongoing relationship a little more confidently is to have a ‘test’ project first. This is usually a one of project that I can support them with so we can both get to know how the other works and then decide whether to go ahead with a consistent, monthly support package. Some people are happy to dive straight in but if you’re nervous then this could be a way to trial working with someone new first.
What roles or services should you consider outsourcing?
I’ve touched on this slightly above but once you know what tasks you want to outsource, think about who to outsource them to. Look into different support services and see what best suits your needs, if you’ve got a bunch of admin tasks, a virtual assistant might be right for you but if you need more strategic support you may want to look into a business strategist. If you need a mix of both, you could consider an online business manager (or a virtual assistant who offers a bit more business related support like myself), you may find socials are your nightmare in which case a social media manager might be the right hire for you. Whether it’s branding, finances, marketing or admin, it’s important to hire the right person to help you otherwise you’re setting yourself up for failure from the start!
Final Thoughts
Taking the first steps towards delegating as a small business owner who does it all themselves is scary but it’s also essential to scaling and growing your business. If you prepare and plan carefully, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming or scary when you bring someone into your team. It can (and should) feel like a really exciting next step in your business.
