You relish the feeling of owning and operating your own business. You are the boss. The king of your company, controlling your own destiny and driving the success of the organization. You understand the systems and processes required to prosper in the business world.
You are a visionary. A thought leader, delivering strategy and tactics to meet your goals.
Being an entrepreneur requires a mindset that isn’t just about collecting a paycheck but more about creating a thriving business, meeting needs, being intuitive and developing your company in such a way that it impacts your stakeholders.
Entrepreneurial mindset refers to a specific state of mind which orientates human conduct towards entrepreneurial activities and outcomes. Individuals with entrepreneurial mindsets are often drawn to opportunities, innovation and new value creation. Financial Times
This is just a small piece of the equation.
Keeping this in mind, think about all of the daily projects and tasks that you continue to add to your plate that is already overflowing. It is a meal for many. How are you able to scale your company while managing all of the day to day, routine and mundane tasks? It’s like flipping the lever on a container of jelly beans and filling up the bag until it overflows, scattering a rainbow of colors all over the floor.
What happens next?
Aside from a sugar high, you are left with an inedible mess on the floor. Sure, the colors are pretty; they may have landed in some obscure graphic design but they are of no use now. Make the most of your life, your passions, your valued time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOksW_NabEk
STOP! Don’t burden yourself with the unnecessary. It’s a liability to you and your company.
You know what you do best. You know why you started the business. You have the entrepreneurial mentality but like many small business owners or solo-preneurs, you (we) tend to wear every hat in the company. Hats that should be distributed to more than one person. To a team.
Empower yourself for higher performance!
But the essence of teamwork is not actually perfection – the essence is constant growth. One of the must-have things you will need as an entrepreneur is a loyal right-hand person who will not leave you no matter what troubles you will face in your entrepreneurial journey. Victorino Abrugar
Being an entrepreneur is no simple endeavor. It requires a 24/7/365 days a year drive, dedication and commitment to growing your business. It isn’t a hobby – it’s a lifestyle.
What makes a business owner a CEO of their company and what keeps them slugging it out alone?
In “Stay Focused on Your Core Genius,” by Jack Canfield he clearly demonstrates the power and need to delegate what doesn’t serve you and your valued expertise.
I believe you have inside of you a core genius… some one thing that you love to do, and do so well, that you hardly feel like doing anything else. It’s effortless for you and a whole lot of fun. And if you could make money doing it, you’d make it your lifetime’s work. For me, my core genius lies in the area of teaching, training, coaching and motivating. Another core genius is writing and compiling books.
Over my 35 year career, I have written, co-authored, compiled and edited more than 150 books, and I love to do it! I do it well, and people report that they get great value from it.
Compare that to the other people in the world who go through life doing everything, even those tasks they’re bad at or that could be done more cheaply, better, and faster by someone else.
They simply can’t find the time to focus on their core genius because they fail to delegate even the most menial of tasks.
Most entrepreneurs spend less than 30% of their time focusing on their core genius and unique abilities.
Read this once. Twice. Three times.
What are you holding onto that doesn’t represent your core genius? That isn’t the greatest value of your time and expertise? Anthony Iannarino believes, “The most productive people spend their time where it produces a greater return on investment. They invest their time where it produces the outcomes that they really want.”
My clients outsource to me for these exact reasons. It is impossible to do it all and be it all to everyone while operating a successful business. While you may want manage every single aspect of your company from top to bottom, it will come at a price. There comes a point in time when every entrepreneur needs to realize it is time to step back from the desk, the daily activities and become the CEO of their company. The overseer who is no longer tromping in the trenches but actively running the business. Working ON it, rather than IN it, instilling the long-term vision required for your company’s growth and longevity.
“Scale Your Business Beyond Yourself.” When you choose the activities and projects you are going to delegate, commit to making the best use of these hours. Don’t simply be busy or squander your time on social media. Have a plan in place for those new found hours dedicated to working on your business, productively! This is a high payoff investment.
In fact, by the time they’ve launched a business, it often seems entrepreneurs are doing everything but the one thing they went into business for in the first place.
It takes time to create new habits and get in the flow with different systems, but once you re-establish your entrepreneurial role, you will experience greater growth in addition to deeper visions for your company. It is a future of win-wins. Live your dream as the entrepreneur, not the employee. As Jason T. Wiser of On Track Tips says:
Stop being a one man band, start being a business owner. You no longer need to do it all yourself, but you need to know how to delegate and let go of tasks.
Are you ready to take the advice of Jack and Jason to scale your business? If not, what are your roadblocks?