So, you have a small business, clients, and a lot of work to do. Why are you so busy just staying on track of what you have, while your business isn't growing? The answer is that you, my friend, may have stretched yourself way too thin! This is a terribly common mistake for newer business owners who are trying to keep costs down by doing everything themselves. The issue with this is that not only are you too busy working in your business to work on it, but you're also devaluing your worth by doing petty tasks that a temp worker or virtual assistant could perform at a low wage. If you're not careful, this is a cycle which will continually repeat itself, making you a slave to your business, rather than being free enough to develop your business!
First you have to see the problem
This is not always apparent when you first start out, as your customer base is usually very simple and the time involved makes it reasonable to do everything by yourself. But all it takes is a little unexpected growth without proper planning, and viola, you're overworked! If you've planned ahead and budgeted for this over time, then you should be able to attain either a temp or VA to get you through the rapid growth, or even a full time employee. If you're like some small business owners, you might not have really researched this part. In this case you may not have the financial ability to bring anyone on. This can be a nasty trap that can really drain you quickly. If you get stuck here, what do you think your customers will have to say when you're unable to work due to illness or other unforeseen circumstances?
Delegate for success
Let's really complicate this topic now by adding another twist. Let's say you do have an employee or maybe several. What if, because of not knowing how or not being willing to train others, you are the only one in your operation who can perform certain skills required for the product or service that you offer? If business suddenly spikes, you could end up having to turn a lot of unhappy customers away. This could cost you a lot more than having the expense of an employee (maybe even a contractor) who can do this. All in all, your goal should be to remove yourself from the critical day-to-day processes of running your business. You should be putting yourself in the position to work on your business instead of working for it. This allows you to continually develop and grow your brainchild while keeping all operations assigned to others.
In order to have a business that can grow to excel, you must remove any limitations that might prevent this. If you don't have the resources hire a full staff, then start segregating piece-by-piece of your business processes. Even if you can only start to do this little by little, you will perhaps get out of this loop and be able to grow beyond where you are now. Besides, who would want to start a business for themselves so that they have to work harder for less? That's just not what entrepreneurship is all about.
