I have a story that I tell clients all the time about how I learned the hard way that it was time to delegate tasks in my business, even when I was fairly new in business.
In my earlier years in business, I thought if I did it all myself that I would retain more money because I didn’t have to hire help.
Makes sense to a young entrepreneur…in her own head anyway.
Well I struggled, and I wasted…yes WASTED time trying to figure out all these tools that I quite honestly had no desire to learn and didn’t want to have to deal with regularly.
One day after spending 7 hours…yes 7 HOURS trying to figure out a change on my website, I reached out to a friend in desperation. I told her what I was experiencing and asked her what the cost was to hire her to do it.
I kid you not…she replied to me in 10 minutes and said “done” and I was like WHAT? HOW? OMG!
She also said no charge because it took her less than 5 minutes…and that I should have called her 6 and a half hours earlier😉
THAT was the day I decided to take responsibility for my time and how I spent it. That was the day I realized that as an entrepreneur you don’t have to do it all yourself. That was the day I realized that someone else always loves the work you don’t. And you will love work that someone else doesn’t.
So how are you spending your time each day? Are you being productive and working on revenue generating tasks? Or are you wasting time trying to do it all when you don’t have to?
That 7 hours I wasted could have brought me in thousands of dollars in income but I was wasting it doing something I didn’t have to because I didn’t want to admit there was another way.
Get out of the “I can do it all” mindset. You can’t. None of us can.
If your fridge stopped working, you would call someone skilled in repair to fix it rather than let all your food spoil while you “try to figure it out yourself” right? Well same goes for your business. Hire someone that is skilled in what you need done so that you are not letting your clients and other work go to the wayside while you “try to figure it out yourself.”
Build up a strong support network and create relationships with others that you can call on when you need help, and they can call on you when they need help. Trust their recommendations and referrals. Get feedback when you can and provide it as well. Even when you work virtually you can have an amazing group of friends to turn to. Stop trying to do it all alone.
Things don’t have to be frustrating all the time. Business doesn’t have to be hard! You got into business to do what you love and share your message with the world. Remember that.