Avoid Small Business Overwhelm (how to delegate!)
Everyone’s different. And sometimes no matter how talented or visionary or creative you are, it’s often time that you need to ask for help, for people to do jobs better than you can!
No man (or woman) is an island. And if you struggle and waste time getting all the stuff done that you can’t do (or have to pay someone else you don’t know to do it for you), it can be time-consuming or expensive or both.
So why not reach out to someone who shares your vision and goals, but perhaps has better skills than you? Then you can focus on the skills and talents that you have, that perhaps they don’t!
Sometimes a small simple project turns into something bigger, and it causes overwhelm. And if you get overwhelmed, then you can’t do the job well. But rather than try to work out all the stuff that other people know how to do (apps, smartphones, social media, marketing, business, income, charity-accounts etc), it would be far simpler if you just ‘gave that stuff over’ to someone you trusted.
Like it or not, the modern world works by apps and feeds and communication. And if you would rather just sit in a little forest and read a book, don’t try to turn yourself into a square peg, if you are a round one!
Finding Someone to Trust
It helps if you already know someone, as friends going into business together can be complicated. You are bound to sometimes fall out. So ensure it is someone that you know will be trustworthy, as well as having the skills that you don’t, but the ethics that you do!
Once you’ve reached out and decided to go into business together (to halve your work and create an interesting career for the new partner), it’s time to take action!
Create a Master Task List
Perform ‘a brain dump’ of everything you are doing. And highlight tasks that you are finding overwhelming. These could be:
- Setting up a business and charity account.
- Doing search engine optimisation (meta-tags, plug-ins etc)
- Setting up and running social media accounts
- Being the ‘communicator (by email or phone)
- Saying ‘no’ when you can’t!
- Email marketing (eek!) and inbox management
Believe or not, some people love this kind of thing. They are the kind of people who arrange their clothes by colour in the wardrobe, and like cleaning things!
So if your business is turning into a nightmare due to not being able to do any of these things, the ‘fun stuff for them’ could free up the business to be fun for you.
Then when you have two business partners having fun, this translates into a more successful venture! And that helps the planet more, if your business is a success!
Getting the Paperwork Right
This is something your new ‘left brain partner’ will likely enjoy. Make a document to delegate who does what, then ensure both names are written on the business account, and that everything is properly sorted out (how to earn, retrieve and donate monies, a Will in case one of you goes under a bus.
And scheduling for tasks and anything else that needs to be done in the near future – from a business plan to a profit-and-loss account.
- Block out times that you meet up (or not if you are working virtually) and learn to say no to protect boundaries for your personal life, say with family time.
- Allow room for teething mistakes, and trust each other to get things wrong now and again, and know it’s a learning curve for both of you.
But do keep to your views and values. Make it clear what boundaries you are not going to cross in order to go into business with someone:
For instance, if you have a vegan or zero waste business, know these values are not going to be ‘watered down’ to accommodate a new business partner.
But if you get it right, it’s like a big helping hand to whisk your tiny business into a new phase. And accept that sometimes if you can’t do everything, it’s good to let others do something!
Sometimes friends and business partners fall out. But hopefully as adults you can get through this. If not, then be sure there is something in place to know what to do, if it all goes wrong and you have to part ways.
None of us is as smart, as all of us. Ken Blanchard
It is amazing what you can accomplish, if you do not care who gets the credit. Harry S Truman
How could you have a soccer team, if all were goalkeepers? How would it be an orchestra, if all were French horns? Desmond Tutu
