From time to time, I’ll meet a business owner who is clearly burned out. And invariably, the reason for their burnout – and the solution to it – is the same in each case.
See, when you’re burned out as a business owner, it’s likely that you are wearing too many hats – you’re the only one trying to do it all! And with all my years in business and sales, I can confidently say that no business runs well as a one-man show, no matter the industry.
If you’re running a business all alone and you’re at a breaking point, there are only two possible outcomes if nothing changes: You will burn out and lose your business, or you will stay stuck and never grow any further.
And of course, nobody wants either of those options! Nobody starts a business intending to burn out from the pressure – only to lose their business. We start businesses to have some command and control over our life and finances, not to be slaves to them!
But as a business grows, so does its needs. One person can only take a business so far!
So the answer is simple: Delegation. At some point, if you plan to grow your business, you’ll need to take on more people.
How can you know where to expand your personnel?
Look at it this way: Nobody – NOBODY – is good at everything! And even if they were, there aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything well! Everyone in your business – including you as the owner – need to work in their strengths.
Are you best at:
- Being the face of the company?
- Digital marketing?
- Bookkeeping?
- Networking?
- Sales?
Are you not sure? Consider this: What is it about running your business that does not feel like work?
Do that thing! The rest of it – don’t! Find someone for whom doing those jobs doesn’t feel like work!
See, when you expand, you go from 8 hours of work per day to a staff that is providing you with, say, 40 hours of work per day – without you needing to work harder. You can quadruple yourself (or more!) and your efforts – and obviously, that produces rapid growth!
On my latest podcast, I interviewed Steven Benson. He is the founder and CEO of Badger Maps, the #1 sales app in the Apple app store! He has experience doing field sales for Google, HP, and IBM. and since being awarded Google’s Enterprise Top Sales Executive in 2009, he’s considered the “go-to” expert in field sales! During our interview, he talks a lot about what it looks like to grow a business from the ground up. He shares many valuable lessons, but one thing he mentions is how much productivity and sales increase as staff grows!
He says that making the first million as a business takes time and work – but once that milestone had been accomplished, the second million was practically waiting at the door!
Now of course expansion of personnel is not the only cause for rapid growth. But growth in a business includes teams of people who help keep the momentum going!
So where are you at? Do you need to take on another person? Two? Three? More? Even if you don’t think you can afford to do it, I would argue that a business that wants to thrive can’t afford not to do it!
Growth in a business is an exciting and sometimes unpredictable time! Finding the right people will help you increase your productivity and your sales – fast!
