Why You Need to Stop ‘Operating’ as a Business Owner
Do you have a business that is not profiting enough? Are you looking to grow and scale your business? Do you want to take your business to the next level? One of the biggest mistakes I see business owners make is not being able to get out of their own way to allow their business to scale.
In my experience, it is not that business owners are not trying to do their best or do the right thing. They are surviving, not thriving. To be more precise, they’re operating in the wrong way—because all they’re doing is operating.
What Is ‘Operating?’
What do I mean by ‘operating’ as a business owner? Operating is the time and energy you expend to get things done in your day. Operating is how you survive on a daily basis. Operating is also fueled by an underlying feeling of desperation. In my experience, ‘operating’ as a business owner looked a lot like burn out. For years, I did everything I could to keep my business running on all cylinders—because of the fear that it would fail. I took every call, I tried to charm every client, and I tried to fix every problem. I tried to do everything, all the time, every day. This is what most business owners do because they are the ultimate expert in all areas of their business and it is hard to give up control.
Why ‘Operating’ is Bad for Your Business
Operating as a business owner means that you’ve expended all your time, all your energy, all your headspace on simply trying to stay afloat each day, so there’s nothing left. Not only is that shortsighted, but it’s also exhausting and a reactive approach to your business. You don’t have a strong grasp of how you’re spending your time or what you want to accomplish in your business long term because you have no time to do so. What are your strategic business moves? What are your business goals? What are you doing on a daily basis to reach them?
Learning to Delegate
As a business owner, you have to delegate day-to-day tasks to other people so you can focus on the bigger picture of the business and long-term goals.
Invest the proper time in the delegation process. Remember, it's not going to happen overnight.
Write down your system and your processes. Start the dialogue with the chosen person you've delegated the task to ensure they fully understand the process.
Give your person 60 to 90 days to learn the process and to execute their new roles and responsibilities.
Let's be clear, it is scary bringing in other people with different expertise and giving them responsibility - because they're not you. As a business owner, you have all the knowledge, skills, and expertise to solve any problem that may arise. It is hard but necessary to delegate your day-to-day tasks as a business owner. By doing so, you will revolutionize the way that you do business.
To learn more about my journey of getting out of the operating phase and transforming my business, read my book: The Life Ledger: How to Build a System to Reach Your Goals.