When we start our business, we are the ones who have to answer the phone, take orders, handle complaints, take care of the accounts receivables and accounts payables, etc. We do this because we are starting out and we may not have the resources to delegate. But as our business grows, there are more phone calls, more orders, etc., and there is only so much time in the day for one person to handle all of these jobs. If we don’t delegate, there will only be so much success that we will be able to achieve.
I know delegating can feel difficult. Raymond Aaron talks about the four reasons why we don’t delegate in his Monthly Mentor program. They are:
Fear of Losing Control – This is so paradoxical to me. We tend to think that no one can do things for our business as well as we can, so we try to do everything ourselves and tell ourselves that we are in control. In the meantime, we lose control of growing our business, we lose control of our freedom to take a vacation and we lose control of our ability to become more successful. All because we think someone else can’t contact our clients, can’t help us with their marketing, etc.
Fear of Asking Somebody – It seems prevalent in our society that we are somehow weak or less than if we need help. I don’t know why that is, but I’ve met a lot of people who don’t like asking for help. Yet, I can’t think of one successful person who got where they are by themselves, without asking for help. The irony on the other side is that most people love to help others and aren’t put out in the least by helping out when asked.
Fear of Being Thought of As Inadequate Not Just by Others, But by Yourself – This type of thinking doesn’t help anyone, isn’t supportive and needs to be stopped immediately. No one knows how to do everything! We need to stay focused on our goals. If our goal is to grow our business, we have to realize that we can’t do it alone and there is no shame in that. I really doubt that Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey or Warren Buffet think they are inadequate because they delegate.
Fear That It May Cost Too Much – I think this is a big fear for most business owners. A better question would be, how much is it costing in lost opportunities by doing it all yourself? If you can get your children or a family member to setup your Facebook Fan Page or WordPress blog for free, then by all means do so. Paying someone to do it right the first time may actually cost less than you doing it yourself and messing it up.
Next time I’ll talk about knowing which tasks to delegate.
Do you have fears around delegating to team members? What are your fears?