When you’re a sole trader or a manager of a small business, it can be difficult to relinquish work through delegation rather than doing it all yourself. It is natural to want to be hands-on with every aspect of your business, but even the best entrepreneurs can benefit from help with things they are less experienced with or have less time for.
If you started your business on your own and have since grown, it may be particularly difficult to begin delegating work. However, success and growth come with an increased workload, so needing a second pair of hands can be a good sign. It’s also a good idea to have someone else around who can cover for you if you take a holiday or are ill. Here are some tips on how to delegate, what to delegate, where to delegate it to, and how a business plan factors into this.
Once you realise that you need some help, you need to decide which tasks you are going to delegate. This requires knowing and admitting to your own strengths and weaknesses and being able to identify what you could do better or where you need the most help. Which tasks do you struggle with? The SWOT analysis part of your business plan may help you to identify your business’s weaknesses and where you could improve so that you can decide what you need help with.
Another way to decide which tasks to delegate is to consider which routine tasks are eating up your time. Are some things taking up too much time, leaving more important things to fall by the wayside? Then it may be time to call in some help. Are there day-to-day tasks you could ask someone else to do, so that you have more time to dedicate to big picture things that are integral to running and growing your business?
As well as helping you to identify your strengths and weaknesses, your business plan can remind you of what your ultimate goals are so that you can ensure your hiring decisions are aligned with these goals. Your finances will also play a big part in helping you to decide who to hire, how many people you can afford to take on, and whether you should hire employees or freelancers. An up to date business plan can be a great help when it comes to making these big decisions.
Our blog post “Staffing Your Start-up In Line With Your Business Goals” explains how you can decide who to hire, and “Planning Your Business: How Can Freelancers Help You To Grow?” explains the benefits of hiring freelancers.
If you would like any assistance with writing a business plan that will help you to delegate work effectively and grow your business efficiently, get in touch. Contact cbm online using the form on the right or call 01604 420 420.