If you’ve been an entrepreneur long enough for a kettle to boil then you’ll know you’ve got more than one hat in your closet. Head of sales, marketing strategist, customer support executive, social media manager, accounts payable and everything in between. It’s part of being the boss.
For most, this is what makes being an entrepreneur so damn fun, exciting, breath-snatching and thrilling. It’s the different tasks. It’s the antidote of tedium. It’s an escape from the dreaded j-j-j-job. It’s the chance to keep learning and figuring things out.
But that’s the challenge. Yes, it’s good to wear a few hats as an entrepreneur, but to really get ahead you need to know how to take a few off without unsettling the apple cart. It’s tough. Actually, it’s almost impossible.
Luckily for you, we’ve come up with some top tips to make your life as entrepreneur a whole bunch easier.
1. Underscore The Non-Essentials
As the theoretical quarterback, your role is pivotal. But not everything you do is going to be considered critical. Some of those things you’ve been doing are better left to other people. Yeah, we’re talking about the art of delegation in order to boost your time-management. You may even get down to that unicorn-number of a 4-hour working day (or, better yet, week). So, figure out what is critical and list everything else.
2. Know Your Weaknesses
Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. It’s how life works. It’s the latter you need to put a ring around, though. Anything you do in which you have pretty much zilch by the way of training or aptitude for that matter. We’re not saying you can’t be good at them, but they’re probably not what you’re good at naturally, which means there will be a steep learning curve. The point is, doing these is not the best use of your time.
3. Bring In Some Modern Help
When someone says, “you should bring in help,” your mind probably imagines a bunch of freelancers coming in to take on different tasks; creative copywriters, accountants, graphic designers etc. But we’re including technological help in this. That could mean you completely outsource your tech support to some expert outfit ort it might mean you bring in automated workflows to reduce the chance of human error and speed up processes. Whatever route you would prefer, a good entrepreneur knows the value of embracing technology.
4. Palm It Off On Your Staff
Delegation is a hard thing to do… at first. It’s that notion you’re letting go of control, or handing a task over to someone with less experience or putting more work onto someone’s plate. But it’s such an essential skill to have in your arsenal. It’s what will free up your time and what will reduce founder instability, which is what would happen to your business should you get trampled on by an elephant or something. You want your business to run smoothly with or without you; that’s the aim of the game here, and that requires mastering the art of delegation.
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