Do What You Love — Delegated The Rest
It is quite liberating once you really do let go and put your trust in other people. The key here is to identify good people, enlist them in your cause or business, give them the ball, and then allow them to run with it. Only you will determine if the ball gets dropped. You must manage and oversee the game on a consistent basis. You must give the right ball to the best possible player.
For example, you would not hire a person with an associate’s degree in accounting to do the job of a CPA. Likewise, a CPA needs certain facts to achieve the task of budgeting and forecasting cash flow for your business. You need to supply him with the necessary information to get the job done. You must understand the process and know what you need the outcome to be. You must also communicate these objectives clearly and monitor the progress. Set meeting times for updates and a time line for completion. Review the process and progress frequently. The same applies to the newsletter example mentioned above. As with everything, there are risks associated with delegating.
Do not over-delegate
Excessive delegating can lead to disaster.
Overburdening others and excessively monitoring others progress are habits of an excessive delegator. A complete hands off approach will not do, either. Not being a CPA is no excuse for not understanding the budget of your company. You must understand how the budget works and why and be accountable for it. You must also be able to communicate this information to your board of directors, shareholders, creditors, and depending on your business, even your customers. Most important, you must understand how the critical pieces of your business fit together to form the whole so you can make sound and effective business decisions. Should you not understand these processes, you run the risk of losing control. Losing control has a domino effect. When the quality of goods and services becomes compromised, customer satisfaction quickly falls.
One last note:
It is nice to want to do all the work yourself. For one thing, on the surface, it appears that it will save you money. However, time is also money and your time is valuable. If you can not pay cash, try to negotiate a fee or a share of future profits … or my own personal favorite, barter. Just do not try to do it all alone!
Source: Used With Permission, Business Wealth, © 2004 BusinessWealth
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