Ready to stop working “IN” your business and start working “ON” your business?
Are you the founder of a values led business who:
- has successfully grown your business from a solo operation to a small team?
- wants to continue growing but realises you don’t have the bandwidth to oversee everything yourself?
- is ready to move into a more strategic CEO role?
You know you’ve reached the tipping point because there is too much on your plate. You can never get to the important work because urgent matters always seem to intervene. You spend most of your time directing and chasing up team members or sorting out problems. Each time your business has a growth spurt the increased volumes bring more problems. Processes that used to work don’t work so well anymore. Taking time to optimise those processes means that something else gets neglected.
You’ve reached an important milestone on your entrepreneurial journey; you are well and truly caught working “IN” your business!
The good news is that this is a normal phase of business growth and you can delegate most of your current workload. At this stage it would make sense to get some managerial level support. Your business may be ready for a Business Manager.
How to decide what to delegate
When you’ve been used to managing everything yourself it can be challenging to know what to delegate. Start by asking yourself 3 questions for each activity you currently do:
1. Do I want to do this?
2. Do I know how to do this?
3. Should I be doing this?
The last question is the key, each business is slightly different but here are some basic guidelines.
As the founder of a values led business, your main goal will be to make a difference and you need to spend most of your time on your true purpose work. This is most likely to be the creative side of your business, usually product development and delivery. In addition, you should be spending time on business building and growth activities such as; strategic big picture planning, marketing & sales, strategic alliances and personal development.
If your goal is to move closer to a true CEO role then you’ll need to take yourself out of the day-to-day, open yourself to doing things that are better for the business, focus on your vision and high-level mission. It is not just about leveraging your time; it is also about fully harnessing the skill-sets of your team. A Business Manager not only relieves you of operational management but also strives to enable team members to do their best work.
It helps if you make a quick assessment of how much time you currently spend working in your business. Then think about how you would use that time if you delegated the managerial work to someone else.
How would you use the extra time and energy?
- What new initiatives will you explore?
- What extra revenue channels will you develop?
- How will you use the creative energy that has been freed up?
- What opportunities have you been avoiding due to lack of time?
Worried about finding the right fit?
Finding the right fit is important whether you are looking for a new team member, partnering with another business or working with a new client.
As the founder of a values led business you already have a clear idea of what constitutes a good fit for you. You’ve noticed that a lot of service providers for mission driven businesses seem to target people who want rescuing or want to abdicate from their businesses and it bothers you.
That is not you, is it?
You enjoy running a business as well as the activity that you built the business around. You wouldn’t have reached your current level of success if you didn’t.
You don’t need rescuing from overwhelm. You just need someone sensible and reliable to take over a part of your current workload.
You don’t want to abdicate but you do want to delegate.
You do want a trusted partner who cares about your business as seriously and with as much heart as you do.
You do want your business run in alignment with your values. You set up a business because you want to make a difference through your work. You really care that all aspects of your business reflect your integrity and your standards.
If this resonates then my business management services are designed with you in mind. You can find out more about my approach by clicking here.
Ready to start delegating?
If you are ready to move towards the CEO role, get back to your true purpose work and a better life balance, then let’s talk!
I invite you to have a chat about your business and your next steps.