First, you must get over the fear of “what will I do if my business runs itself”. The answer is “freedom” the freedom to choose what you will do. Be a true entrepreneur, look for other opportunities/investments that interest you, set your own schedule, and enjoy life. Believe in your ability to change and you will not have a shortage of things to do. Stop and think what would I do today if I didn’t have to go into work? Really really think about it and what if every day you had that choice? Once you have this part figured out then here are a few steps you will need to take to get started.
First, do a time log and see what you are doing with your time and how long each task takes. This is for the routine stuff. Then look at how many other things are taking your time as well. These are what you will need to delegate.
Second, look at your organizational chart and see how many boxes have your name in them. You will have to replace yourself in every box.
Third, identify who on your current team could you delegate all or parts of what you do to? How would this change your organizational chart?
Fourth, if you don’t have anyone on your team who you can delegate to, will you outsource or hire someone to take over doing the task?
Fifth, now it gets a bit tricky, you must start delegating mostly everything you do to someone else. Start with the things you like least, aren’t very good at, or are not a good investment of your time. Remember what your time is worth. You must be willing to delegate even the things you like doing. Remember you will find other things you will like doing in the future.
A few final thoughts. Managing the finances and money of the business will likely be the last thing to delegate and you may not delegate it all. Sales, marketing, operations, administration, etc. all must be off your plate. It is simple, but not easy. Make certain when you do start to delegate you have the person you are delegating to properly trained and there is a documented system for them to use. Once you achieve these 5 steps you’re “fired”.
What a great feeling it will be!
