Let Go To Grow Your Business!
Most people – when they start their businesses do everything - hiring, purchasing, marketing, sales, proposals, supervising projects, project management, customer meetings, paying the invoices, invoicing customers, depositing checks, etc.
You name it, if it has to be done, the owner does it!
Often until the early hours of the morning.
Can’t find any good help?
And what do we do as our businesses grow?
We need to find some help. So we hire family and friends. Not the best idea in retrospect! It’s hard to build a professional company with inexperienced people who don’t respect you like a boss. And as the business grows - Wow, what a workout! You have to learn how to manage people or die trying.
And what usually happens is you can’t find anyone who could do the work exactly the way you want it done.
No one seems to care, be accountable or accept any responsibility except you.
So what happens? You hire people, put them on the job and then watch them leave after less than a year. Not a good thing for your bottom-line profit! So you have lots of exciting work with great clients, but your company doesn’t retain people.
And where could you find the magic fix you need? You’ve tried new management ideas, gone to time management seminars, read business books and attended company retreats.
And nothing works.
Well, how about a new approach.
Let go of all daily management decisions.
Delegate everything except leadership, vision and values.
Look in the mirror!
Perhaps you may at some point even realise… realise the following.
Perhaps the only factor that is holding your company back is you!
Shocking as that may seem…
Are you trying to control everything and everybody.
Is this what may be holding your people from accepting responsibility and being accountable.
You see, when you make every decision for them, they don’t take responsibility.
When you fix their problems, they won’t be accountable.
When you control and lead every meeting, they don’t grow.
When you approve every purchase, contract and strategy, then they don’t have to think or be their best.
Don’t control, let go!
High control equals low performance.
And low control equals high performance.
99% accountable and responsible equals 0% accountability and responsibility.
You can’t be partially responsible! When you solve other people’s problems, they bring you more problems to solve.
Are you wearing a sign around your neck that says “Bring me your problems”?
This makes you feel large and in-charge while you slide backwards.
If in doubt, delegate!
When a customer calls you about a problem, do you immediately handle it yourself and get right back to him?
You should listen and then turn your customer over to the project manager or another responsible member of staff to take care of the situation.
Let’s say you’re in the construction game…
When it’s time to award a major subcontract do you get right in the middle of the negotiations?
Instead, ask the project manager to review all the bids, analyse the scope of work and then award the subcontract to the lowest responsible qualified bidder without your input.
When a supervisor asks you to call a subcontractor who isn’t performing on a jobsite, do you get involved right away?
Train your field supervisors to update their schedules, plan ahead, hold weekly field meetings, communicate, put things in writing and manage their projects professionally.
Here are some specific delegation strategies you can use to “let go” of the small stuff.
But basically any regular mundane “low value” task you do daily/weekly that that can be systemised and handed over – should be.
- Weekly management meetings
- Pre-job start-up checklists
- Project scheduling
- Administration tasks – standardised e-mails, letters and scripts
- Two week look-ahead schedules completed weekly
- Weekly field staff meetings
- Weekly project meetings with the customer
- Material purchases – just with your signature for approval above certain limits
- Purchase of fixed assets ie office equipment & computers just with your signature for approval above certain limits
- Writing of proposals
- Sales Meetings and presale meetings
- Marketing activities
Lead to grow!
Performance is the number one indicator of leadership.
No performance, no leadership. If you control the work, hold your people back, and tell them what to do, you will hurt your company’s growth and bottom-line profit.
Your leadership role is to inspire others to be the best they can be.
Your job is to lead, not do. Don’t even sign the checks.
When you worry about all the little details, you waste a valuable resource – you.
When you do £6 per hour work, you are not even earning £6 per hour.
What is your time worth?
Look at what your company needs to bring in annually to cover your overhead and projected profit. As the owner you only have 2,000 hours to make that happen.
Do the sum now:
| Turnover required to cover overheads and profits: | |
| Divide by owner’s 2000 hours: | /2000 |
| Owner’s minimum charge per hour: |
Surprised???
Now you know what it is that you need to earn per hour for your company on important things like
- customer relations,
- leading our people,
- training,
- financial matters and
- looking for new business opportunities.
Effective business owners and managers invest their time as follows:
- 25% - Leading your Company
- 25% - Spending Time with Customers
- 25% - Training your People
- 25% - Doing your Work
Less is more!
The results are incredible: more profit while doing less, more loyal customers, and employees who love to work for your company.
Increase your employee retention rate.
Build a great place to work where people can grow, take responsibility and be accountable to meet your company goals.
The only way to grow is to let go.
What will you let go of?
