So you know you need help… but where to start? As an entrepreneur you’re a jack of all trades – at least at first. You are your own social media manager, your own customer service rep, your own salesperson… But as your business grows, and so does your to-do list, it becomes harder to juggle it all yourself.
When this happens, it's time to delegate… but where to start?! In today's episode we’re covering how to hire and delegate tasks from start to finish: From who to hire, to what type of investment to expect, to what tasks to give them. We’re even digging into the mindset roadblocks that come with delegating: Trusting that they’ll do a good job and being willing to let go of tasks that you have down to a science.
It isn’t always easy, but for most business owners, delegating is necessary. By the time you’re done with this episode you’ll have renewed confidence in your ability to let go of the tasks that are roadblocks in your to-do list and know exactly who you need to support growth in your business.
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Episode Transcript
010. To Delegate or Dive In? When to Hire and What Tasks to Delegate!
[00:00:00] Well, Hey there guys. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm so excited to talk to you about this topic because it's something that I've heard other people bring up over and over, again, the entire span of my business every year that I've been in business, this has always been a topic that's come up and then also.
[00:00:16] Ben an ongoing topic for myself as well. I feel like it's one of those things where it's always a work in progress. There's always something new to learn about. And of course I am talking about delegating. So delegating is one of those things that. Everybody knows that it's probably going to need to happen at some point.
[00:00:36] And I think that it's probably something we all think about maybe more than we realize, you know, have you ever had those days where you're sitting down and you're like, I really wish I could just have someone else do this for me, or I really wish that someone could just help me get this done or make it go a little bit faster or I could get advice on how to do this and have somebody else support me as I'm getting it done.
[00:00:59]I [00:01:00] know that I've had a lot of those days. In fact, I have known that I've wanted to hire a copywriter for probably two years now, because I always think about. How much that would be helpful because we generate a lot of content over here, especially with the podcast which is obviously new as of January, 2021, but we generate a lot of content on social media, on the blog emails.
[00:01:27] And so it would just be so helpful to have a copywriter. And I always find myself thinking that when I go to sit down and write social media posts, or I'm sitting down even writing, not the podcast episode itself, because I really don't think that that can be delegated. I think that that needs to be me.
[00:01:43] But when I'm writing, like the show notes or I'm writing the descriptions for the blog post, that goes with the episode, that sort of thing. I always find myself thinking about how much time it's taking me and how grateful I would be to just have somebody [00:02:00] else helping with the stuff that is taking me forever.
[00:02:04] I just can't seem to make, go any faster. And so I'm really excited to be able to talk about this today. Because there's really two parts to it. It was really a difficult thing to do. And yet also at the same time, something that I knew I needed to do. And I think a lot of people feel that way where, you know, it's something that's coming up.
[00:02:24] It's something that you need to do and want to do, but it's also really difficult to give up that control. And I know that. I'm not alone in that. And my bet is that you listening to this today are feeling very similarly and maybe even nodding along, which is why you saw the title of this episode and decided to tune in.
[00:02:45] So I'm glad that you're here and I'm excited to talk about this with you. So back when I first started anchor design co. I used to take one-on-one clients. I don't do that anymore. We have four services which are done for you [00:03:00] services or templates or SAS software products, but I don't take one-on-one clients anymore.
[00:03:07] But when I did one of the biggest things that. I noticed even with clients who were working with me was that it was really difficult to give up that control and really hand off to somebody else, a task that needed to get done without micro-managing or feeling the need to constantly check. Back. And the thing about delegating is that it's an opportunity for you to really rely on the person that you're working with to give that time back to you.
[00:03:34] And so if you're constantly having to micromanage and go back and look at what they're doing, or keep a keen eye on what they are getting done, then you're really not saving the time. You're just using it differently. And so I noticed that that was something that clients struggled with.
[00:03:49] And then I also started noticing it in myself as well, where it would be tough to give up that control and not want to go back and look at what somebody else is doing. And [00:04:00] so this is definitely something that is universally difficult and partially because that is the nature of being a business owner. Most likely as a business owner, you have a little bit of trouble giving up control over your work. And you probably like having that control. That's probably why you got started in your business because you were looking for.
[00:04:21] Some level of control over either your time or your finances, or even your emotional state and the circumstances that you were putting yourself in and the things you were putting yourself through during the day. And then most likely it's possible that you've had a negative. Experience in the past where you did give up control on something and it didn't turn out the way that it should have.
[00:04:45] And so that contributes to it being difficult to give that control up to delegate to other people. And then the other thing is that as a business owner, you are the expert in what you do. And so. Sometimes [00:05:00] it can feel like no one can do it as well as you do whatever it is. And that's the nature of the beast when it comes to being a business owner.
[00:05:07] I know because I have experienced all of those and I have watched clients. I have watched friends experienced that as well.
[00:05:14]I know for me, I like having control. I like knowing that I'm the one making the decisions. I like knowing that even if it's the wrong decision, I know exactly how we got there and I know who's responsible for it. I don't have to go and figure out, you know, what, I could figure out what went wrong, but I don't have to figure out why or who or how I, I know all of that.
[00:05:35] I have all of that in my grasp. I also know that I can be a little bit particular about things. I want things done a certain way. I have a vision in my head. I know what I'm trying to get to. And so it can feel really hard to trust that someone else is going to do it the way that I would do it or do it to the standard that I would want it done, or that they have the same vision as me or that they understand the vision.
[00:06:00] [00:06:00] But the thing is, is even with all of that hard, right? All of these things that make it difficult and contribute to it being. Tough to actually hand off the reins to somebody else. There's a lot to gain by delegating. There comes a time when really one of two things happens in your business. You either need to do something that you're not the expert in.
[00:06:22] So you might be the expert in whatever it is you're doing. Maybe you're a copywriter and you're an expert in copywriting, right? But now you need to actually work on launch strategy and that's not your forte. You can write till the cows come home, but actually coming up with the strategy is really tough or maybe your indirect sales.
[00:06:39] And so connecting with people on a personal level in person is your forte. But when it comes to systems and management behind the scenes, or maybe social media posting, it's not your forte, it's just not where your strength is. And so now you're faced with a situation where you need to do something that you're not the expert in.
[00:06:58]And the other scenario that's [00:07:00] probably going to happen at some point or another for everyone is your plate is too full and you just can't add any more to it. And I'm going to guess that that one's going to happen first because we can all get a little bit scrappy and learn how to do something that we're not the expert in at least enough to get by.
[00:07:17] Right. We all do that every day, but. Once your plate is full, you really can't keep adding to it until you take something else away. And so that one's probably going to happen more often. On a consistent basis and earlier in your business. And so when those two things happen, whether your plate is full or whether you're trying to do something that you're just not the expert in, , when that happens, it's time to delegate. It's time to phone a friend. It's time to call in the troops and get a little bit of help. And it's not a fast process. It's not an overnight process. And it's also not an immediate win. It's something that takes time to get into a rhythm with it's something [00:08:00] that might take a few tries before you find the right
[00:08:02] person.
[00:08:03] I like Facebook marketplace or some other online space where you can have. Hire people. There are actually different categories of people that you can go up to hire. And those people come with different price ranges to expect different levels of expertise and even different ways that you can actually hire them.
[00:08:22] So we'll talk about people that you can hire. We'll also talk about when to know that it's actually time to get delegate. What are the signs that you can look for that now is the right time. We'll talk about how to get out of your own way when it comes to delegating and giving up the reigns and giving up a little bit of that control.
[00:08:41] And then we'll also talk about ideas for what to delegate, because you might actually be in a position where, you know, it's time, but you're not really sure where to start. So we'll talk about what you can delegate, how to get started. All of that. So first things first, let's go ahead and talk about the different types of people that [00:09:00] you can hire because it's not one size fits all, and it's not quite as simple as, you know, walking outside and announcing to your street.
[00:09:08] I want to hire someone and then everybody lines up. There are different categories of people, different price ranges, different levels of expertise. So the first type of person that you can hire is someone who is an expert in whatever that subject is. Someone who's specialized. This could be. Specialized virtual assistant, which.
[00:09:27] Emphasis on the phrase specialized. And we'll talk about that more in a minute. So a specialized virtual assistant, someone like a social media manager, a copywriter, anyone that has one specific thing that they do, and that is their 100%. All their attention goes into that. So pros and cons pros of hiring someone.
[00:09:47] Who's an expert in whatever the subject is, is that they're already an expert. They really don't need any additional training on how to do it. So this is great. If you don't, you're not the expert in whatever it [00:10:00] is you're doing, and you need someone who already gets it, who doesn't need you to teach them.
[00:10:03]They already have all the training needed and they're likely going out and learning more on a D on a daily basis, weekly basis, monthly basis, they're keeping up with their own education. So this person probably knows that subject matter. Better than you do. So they're a better copywriter than you are.
[00:10:19] They are a better launch strategist than you, or they're a better social media than you are. And that's why you're hiring them. This person also likely has a history of proven results. If they've been in business, if they're a brand new business owner, they probably don't have that history, but most of the time you're going to be hiring someone who ha if there are specialized, you're going to be hiring someone who has a history of some type of results.
[00:10:42] And obviously you wouldn't hire someone if they didn't have. Proven results or they couldn't show you that they actually get results. So when you're hiring someone that has that history of proven results, you kind of know what to expect or you at least know what's possible. So it kind of helps you mold your [00:11:00] expectations and know where you might be going on, what you can be working towards.
[00:11:04]You're also going to be able to get started a lot more quickly when you're working with someone who's an expert in there. The subject matter in their field because they do have their own business. This is what they do. And so they have their own processes. They don't need any training. You can get started a lot faster with someone who's coming to the table already prepared to start working right away.
[00:11:26] They know exactly what they need to do to dive in. And then finally somebody who's an expert in their subject matter in their field will also likely have experience working for other clients. So they have a process in place. They know what to expect from you, and they also know how to coach you to help them be successful.
[00:11:48] So. With that. Let's also talk about the cons of hiring someone that is an expert in their field. So again, this is someone who's like a social media manager, a copywriter, someone who is [00:12:00] very specialized in one subject area. So the first one is almost the reason that they're so good. Great is also what could be considered a con depending on what you need.
[00:12:12] And so that is that this person is there to do a specific job. They're there for one. Specific task or a group of tasks related to one thing. So your copywriter is there to write copy. They are not responsible for also creating social media images. Your social media manager is there for the strategy. It is not necessarily their job to write the post or come up with the images.
[00:12:36] So with that this person will likely not be able to cross over and take on other unrelated tasks. So you really just need to be aware of that going in, that you cannot expect this person who has this really amazing expertise in a specific area that you hired to do a specific job. You really can't expect them to go and take on these unrelated tasks.
[00:12:59] That's just not [00:13:00] what they're there for. And most likely that's actually a waste of their time and their talents because they've spent so much time on becoming an expert in this area. It doesn't make sense for them to go and do all this other random stuff as well. And so with that, someone who's an expert in one specific task or area or subject is likely going to come at a higher cost.
[00:13:23] Their rates are going to be higher because they have the experience and the expertise to back it up. And so with that, Be aware that when you're hiring experts in specific areas, you're likely going to pay more and you're going to pay more because their rates are higher, but you're also going to pay more overall because you do end up having to hire more people.
[00:13:45] So for example, hiring a copywriter and a social media manager and someone who does design versus someone who does all three. If you think about it, if you have someone who's doing all three and maybe they're writing a social [00:14:00] media post, so they make a graphic in Canva, which takes, you know, 20 minutes and then they write some copy, which takes maybe another 20 minutes.
[00:14:07] I don't know if these are the actual types, so I'm just making this up. So if you're a copywriter or a designer, please don't be offended. I'm just making these times up. But. So we've got 20 minutes for copy, 20 minutes for this design and then 20 minutes to schedule it. However that ends up breaking down that totals 40 minutes.
[00:14:23] But if you think about hiring a different person for each of those, you really can't expect to only pay for 20 minutes of their time because they have to get into the right mindset. They have to get set up, they have to break down whatever they're doing. So instead of spending 20 minutes to schedule a social media post at the same time as creating the graphic and also writing the copy.
[00:14:44]You're now paying for 30 to 40 minutes or even an hour of that. Person's time to write a social media post. And then you're also paying for 30 minutes, 40 minutes an hour of time for someone to do the graphic and same thing for actually scheduling it. [00:15:00] So you end up stretching the amount of time that you're paying for by working with somebody who is an expert in the field.
[00:15:06] Now I know that I started with the pros and ended with the cons. So it probably feels like there's more cons than pros, but please don't take it that way. I just want to show both sides. Working with an expert can be really great because they have the experience that you need.
[00:15:22] So. Remember that go back and listen to the pros. I do not want to totally push you away from ever working with an expert. Just be aware that there are two sides to it. Now, the second person that you can hire. Is someone that you have to train and is not a business owner themselves. There is probably a word for this.
[00:15:42] I cannot think of it. But if you imagine, like just going out and putting an ad out there and saying, I am hiring someone and then, you know, someone who just graduated from college and hasn't started a business or gotten a full-time job yet comes and says, Hey, I'm interested. Let me be part of this. I'll do it for you.
[00:15:59] So [00:16:00] here's the pros. This person is all yours. They don't have any bad habits. They probably don't have any experience in that area. And so they are easy to mold into exactly what you need for your business. And you can really decide what their role looks like and how they function within that role, because they don't have experience doing it for anyone else's as someone who's pretty green.
[00:16:23]This person also could be doing a variety of tasks. Or they could be doing just one task. You get to decide if they're the expert in that one field, or rather not so much an expert, but if they're just dedicated to one specific area or if you're going to be having them help you with a lot of different tasks.
[00:16:41] So again, this person is usually pretty green. They may have never done what you need them to do before, or most likely they've never done what you need them to do before they don't have a business of their own. And so with that, this person is likely going to be a smaller investment because they don't have the experience yet [00:17:00] because they don't have the skills necessary.
[00:17:01] You have to provide the training and the skills to them. Now with that, There are some cons. So we know this person is already not an expert, which means that you need to provide training. That's going to mean more handholding from you. And it's also going to take a lot longer to get started because they really have to learn and find their footing.
[00:17:21]And that by itself becomes a bigger investment up front. So you're going to have at least a couple of weeks when you're working with someone who is green and has never done whatever it is that you want them to do before. You're going to have a period of time where you're paying them to learn, not paying them to do.
[00:17:41] And so you have to be aware of that upfront and you also can't hold it against them if it's expensive. Okay. You can't look at them and say, you know, why aren't you figuring it out faster because you hired someone who's green with that you're likely going to pay less overall. [00:18:00] Moving down the line because you are paying for less experience.
[00:18:04] You're not paying for someone who has tons of experience or has done this before. And is the expert. So a couple of pros, they're all yours. They don't have any bad habits. You really get to mold what what that role looks like for them. And they're a smaller investment overall, but a larger investment up front, which leads us to our cons, which is that they're not an expert in what they're doing.
[00:18:25] They need more hand holding. It's going to take longer to get started. And you just have to be aware that. Again, you are going to end up paying them more upfront because you have to pay them to learn, not to do for a little bit of time, which could be a couple of weeks, could be a couple months. If you think about when somebody is hired into a corporate job or even into any like regular retail job where you're working as a cashier or anything like that, it's really common to have a 90 day period at the beginning of when you're hired.
[00:18:52] That some companies will call a trial period. Some people will call it a test period, but it's a period of time in which you're expected to do more learning [00:19:00] than doing. And so that's really what you need to expect even more so than with any other type of hire. When you're hiring someone who is very green, who has never done whatever it is that you need them to do before.
[00:19:13] And so that brings us to the third type of person that you can hire. Which is a more generalized virtual assistant, or this could technically even be an in-person assistant, but we're just going to go with virtual assistant and you know that this could potentially work for somebody who is in person as well.
[00:19:31]Now a general virtual assistant is sort of a mix of both. They're not necessarily a VA who is really specialized in one area. So that's an important differentiation here. We're not talking about a virtual assistant who specializes in copywriting because that person really almost falls into the copywriter category.
[00:19:49] They are more of an expert in their field. We're really talking about somebody who is generalized. They are there to do anything and everything. Whatever you need to help [00:20:00] get to whatever you need to get tasks done within your business. So that could be answering emails. It could be organizing paperwork, whether that's in person or digitally, it could be taken care of tasks related to your blog posts, or even scheduling social media posts or creating graphics in the first.
[00:20:20] Type of person that you can hire. I was talking about how it's more expensive to have somebody who is just writing the copy and then someone else who is just writing scheduling the post and then somebody else who is just creating the graphics. Well, this is the person that would do all three of them versus having three separate people.
[00:20:38] So let's go ahead and talk about the pros and cons of working with a more general version.
[00:20:45] So the biggest pro is that when you're working with a more general virtual assistant, they usually offer a wide variety of services and things that they can help with. And so they're able to support your business in a lot of different ways. They're not there for just [00:21:00] one specific job. You can go to this person most cases and say, Hey, would you mind also doing this?
[00:21:06] Or could I also get your help on this over there? And those two topics could be totally unrelated and that is completely fine. Fine. They're there to support you in your business with whatever you need within limits. Right. This person does require a little bit of training because they do need to get familiar with your business and processes, but they don't require as much training as someone who is not a business owner or has never done anything like this before.
[00:21:33] So again, we're sort of in between here they need. Some training, you do have to come to the table with processes already in place, unless they're there specifically to get processes in place, but you do not need to fully train them from the ground up the way that you would need to train someone who is brand new to businesses.
[00:21:51] Who's brand new to whatever the tasks are that you need. In terms of total investment, this is also likely going to fall in the [00:22:00] middle. They're not necessarily going to charge as much as someone who's a really specialized expert in one area, but they also are not as inexpensive as someone who's brand new in green, because they are bringing some level of expertise to the table for you, that expertise.
[00:22:18] Might fall within the tasks that you need them to do, or it falls into the category of being a good VA, which is an amazing skill in and of itself. And so they're bringing a certain type of expertise to the table, but it's a different type of expertise than someone who is an expert in just that one specific area.
[00:22:39] I keep going back to the. Example of a copywriter because I have copywriting on the mind you guys, this is someone I would love to hire one day. And so I keep going back to that, but it's, it's the same. So someone who is super specialized in copywriting, Versus somebody who feels pretty good about it and would be happy to help you doing that.
[00:22:59] So that's [00:23:00] sort of the difference that we're looking at there. Now cons of working with a generalized VA include that they probably do offer a really wide variety of services. And so with that, they cannot be an expert in all of them. That's just not physically possible. And it would also be totally unreasonable.
[00:23:18] Expect them to be an expert in all of them. If you're splitting your focus and your attention among 20 different tasks or even 10 different tasks, there is no way you can put your a hundred percent your all into every single one of them. And so nobody should be expecting somebody who's there to help with a really wide variety of tasks to be the absolute expert in any individual tasks.
[00:23:39] And so with that, be aware that you may not get this. Quality of work from someone who is splitting their focus and their attention among a lot of different tasks as you would by working with someone who's 100% attention is on that one and task. And then with that, depending on what you're actually having them do and what their [00:24:00] past experiences and what training they've had in the past, they will require more training than someone who is an expert in a specific subject.
[00:24:08] So your benefit to hiring a generalized VA might be that they're super excited and willing to help with just about anything, which is. An amazing asset to have on your team, but at the same time, be aware that that does mean you'll likely have to train them on anything they haven't done before. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but you have to know that going in because if you approach someone.
[00:24:35] Expecting them to know how to do everything ahead of time. You're going to find yourself frustrated. Anytime you need them to do something new because they have to learn. It's not possible to know everything. So just be aware of that going in. So those are the three different types of people that you can hire.
[00:24:52] You can hire an expert who is really specialized in one specific area. You can hire someone who is very green and has never [00:25:00] done anything like this before someone who's probably not involved in businesses at all. Or you can hire someone who is sort of in the middle. This would be your general virtual assistant, who is able to help with.
[00:25:12] A lot of different things, but also does have that experience that comes with working with businesses in the past. So now, you know, who's out there, you know, what your options are for who to hire and who you can delegate to who can support you. Let's talk a little bit about how to know when it's time to delegate.
[00:25:34] So the first and biggest and easiest, and probably the most common sign is that you are constantly finding yourself running out of time to do things. Aren't enough hours in the day to get things done. And so things are slipping through the cracks, or they're not getting done as well as they could because you're rushing through them, that sort of thing.
[00:25:55] This could also be a sign of something else though. And so I want to make it very clear [00:26:00] that before you assume that just because you're running out of time to do things or your to-do list is overflowing and never seems to go down, that might not be a tell all sign that it's time to delegate. It's.
[00:26:11] Possible, but you've got to also know that this could also be a sign that you need to get your systems in place. So again, this is not a 100% sign. It's not a, if you're feeling this, you definitely need to hire someone. Really. If you feel this, you need to go and analyze your business and decide, is this a not enough time issue or is this a, I don't have good systems in place issue.
[00:26:40] And so if it's the second one, you've got to go and get those systems in place before you ever hire somebody, because anybody who comes into a business that doesn't have any systems and doesn't have a process, things are not going to get better. It's just going to become more confusing because now there's like more cooks in the kitchen.
[00:26:58] So be aware, [00:27:00] constantly finding yourself running out of times to do things. Can be a sign that it's time to delegate, but it can also be a sign that you need to focus on getting systems in place. And if it's the second one, you've got to do that before you hire someone. So look at your business and say, what's working.
[00:27:18] What's not working. If it's not working, why is it not working? So if you're finding that like me, you want to hire a copywriter, go and look at what your copywriting process is. Is it that you don't know what to talk about? And so you are just constantly making it up as you go along. If that's the case, you're going to need to get a marketing plan or some type of plan in place before you can hire someone, because if you're making it up, as you go along, what is an assistant or a copywriter going to do?
[00:27:51] How are they going to know what to write about? If you don't know, see what I mean about getting that system in place or in this case, a marketing plan in place first. [00:28:00] So the next sign that it might be time to delegate or call on the troops and get a little bit of help is that you are taking on tasks where you're not an expert and you don't want to be.
[00:28:11] So as a business owner, to some extent you will always need to be a little bit of a Jack of all trades. Especially when you first get started, you're going to be bootstrapping things. You're going to be learning on the fly. You're going to be trying to do things yourself in order to save costs or in order to figure out how things work.
[00:28:27]But at some point, you're probably going to find yourself trying to do something where it's just not your area of expertise. You really just need someone else to come in and take the reins because they are just better at it, whatever it is.
[00:28:42] But when you're hiring, one thing to remember is that it's really good to have a solid understanding of whatever the task or subject is first, before you go and hire someone for it, because then you can actually gauge whether or not you're getting results. So for example, I am trying to [00:29:00] hire a copywriter.
[00:29:01] It's good that I have been writing my own copy for the past four years or so, because otherwise I wouldn't know what to expect, what I was looking for. And I also wouldn't have a baseline to say, okay, here's where we're starting. And now this is where we're going. These are the, this is the progress that we've made.
[00:29:20] If you don't have that baseline, you're never going to have. An idea of where you started. So it's really hard to understand what progress has been made. And then also with that, you won't know if things are going wrong, if you have no clue about what's going on. So this is a really good example when it comes to managing Facebook ads.
[00:29:40]If you're trying to manage Facebook ads yourself and not feeling like an expert, it's still good to get an idea of what is going on behind the scene. In the ads manager so that when you hire someone, you can still log in and see what's going on and understand whether or not you're getting results [00:30:00] rather than relying on the person that you're paying to constantly tell you whether or not you're getting results.
[00:30:06] So it's sort of like reading the recipe before you start cooking and just making sure that you've looked up any techniques that come up, if you don't know what it means to Flom Bay and you get to that part of a recipe and you're like, what do I even need to do here? How are you going to ever tell somebody else to do it?
[00:30:24] Right? You're not going to know whether or not they're actually flambeing your food. If you don't know what means, which. It means to set your food on fire. Basically. I think it's terrifying, but if you don't know that, that's what it means. And you tell someone, Hey, Flom Bay this for me. And then they start dunking your food under water.
[00:30:45] You won't know the difference. And so you'll just accept it as is. It's probably not going to taste very good. And so it's important to get a general understanding of whatever it is before you go and ask somebody else to do it. [00:31:00] So this one's almost a little bit more of an obvious one. So the first one.
[00:31:04] Sign that it's time to delegate. I said was, if you constantly find yourself running out of time to do things, but then I also said, watch out that's could be a sign of something else. This one is a little different than that. So taking on tasks where you're not an expert and you don't want to be, because this is subjective, it's like basically totally up to you.
[00:31:22] Whether or not. You feel good about doing it and whether or not you want to continue doing it. This can really happen at almost any time in your business. It can happen when you're new. It can happen when you've been doing it for a long time. And it's something that's probably going to pop up over and over again, as your business actually grows.
[00:31:39] But those are the two biggest telltale signs that it's time to bring in some help and delegate some tasks. Get those off your plate, maybe work with an expert, maybe work with someone who's just there to make sure things are getting done. But whatever it is, those are two telltale signs you're running out of time.
[00:31:58] You don't have time to get things done. [00:32:00] And you're just not the expert that should be doing this, nor do you want to be.
[00:32:05]So we're going to talk about what you can actually delegate in a few minutes, but really quick, before we even dive into that, let's just talk about getting out of your own way for a minute, because I think this is probably one of the most important things you can consider and just be aware of as you're going into delegating and starting to work with people and starting to hire your team and people that you're going to be working with.
[00:32:27] So yeah. In my notes. When I first wrote about this and I jotted down what I wanted to say and talk about here, I originally called it getting over yourself. I kind of felt like I needed to soften it up and like not be a jerk. So I changed the title to getting out of your own way for this section of the podcast.
[00:32:49] But pick the title that you need either way. You're probably your own biggest obstacle when it comes to delegating and giving up that control and actually [00:33:00] working with someone else and having them support you in your business. So either get over yourself or get out of your own way. So most likely one of a couple of things is happening when I first say that you're probably your own biggest obstacles.
[00:33:16] So you might immediately say no money is what's holding me back from hiring. And if that's you, if you're thinking that right now, I would challenge you. And I would say, no, your priorities are. If your business, isn't making enough money to say, hire somebody who is your general assistant, who has no experience whatsoever, and is just there to help you get things done, could be someone in the family could be teenager from down the road.
[00:33:43] If you can't hire that person for say three hours a week at. You know, 13, 14, $15 an hour. Then there probably aren't enough income producing activities happening behind the scenes on a day-to-day basis. In which case you need to [00:34:00] look at what you do and prioritize in any given day, week, or month, and then you need to cut.
[00:34:08] Anything that doesn't matter or make a real impact because if the money isn't there, but the tasks are, then there's an imbalance of income producing tasks. Just like you wouldn't hire someone. Who's not bringing in a return on that investment. Just like you wouldn't hire someone whose tasks don't make you any money.
[00:34:29] You should also not be prioritizing tasks that don't bring any money into your business. You need to be making an income from most of what you do. Most of what you do needs to contribute to bringing in. Cashflow to your business. You've got to start taking actions that are going to bring in that revenue.
[00:34:48] And you've got to cut out and stop doing the fluffy stuff in between. That just doesn't matter. Okay. Now I know that's a bitter pill to swallow. I know that that's hard to hear, but I'm looking at you [00:35:00] business owner who spends two hours a week organizing her office and decorating, but doesn't spend 25 minutes a week sending an email to her email list.
[00:35:09] Yes, I know that's harsh. But if no, one's willing to say it, then nothing's ever going to change and you're never going to have enough money to actually start delegating to actually start hiring on the flip side. It might have absolutely nothing to do with money. It might not be a money problem. It might be that you really just feel like no one can do it the way you can, whatever it is.
[00:35:33] And so I would encourage you to understand that you're absolutely right. No one cares about your business, the way that you do, no one cares as much as you do. And that, although at first glance, it probably sounds like, Ugh, what the heck? Like if no one cares, why am I even doing this? But here's the thing that works in your favor and you can lean into it.
[00:35:56] People who are experiencing your brand from the [00:36:00] outside. We'll never notice the same stuff that you do. So that one little thing that's like irking you and driving you crazy that you need to spend 25 minutes on you. Don't actually, because nobody else is going to notice it. No one else is going to care as much as you do.
[00:36:14] It sounds a little like, Ugh, when you first hear it, but then when you think about it, it's like, okay, if I lean into this idea that no one is going to notice all of these crazy little things that I noticed. Well that just freed up. Hours upon hours of my time, I can get things done faster. I can make decisions more quickly.
[00:36:37] I can and settle at a certain point, not settle for less. Yes, but you can settle without going over the top. Right. Because nobody's noticing these little tiny things, like when you're making a social media graphic and you nudge the white square in the middle to the left, into the right, for. 15 minutes.
[00:36:56] Like you don't have to do that. Just put it in a spot and move [00:37:00] on. And so remember that no one cares as much as you do, and that works way in your favor. So no need to nitpick. So you gotta just get out of your own way.
[00:37:14]You've got to understand your priorities and make sure that you're prioritizing tasks that are bringing money into your business and not the fluffy tasks that don't really make a big difference. And you've also got to realize that no one is as attached to your business as you are. So you can let go of little nitpicky things that keep wasting your time.
[00:37:36] Now. You might also be struggling to hire someone or just not really able to get started because you just don't know what to have them. Do. You kind of know that you need help and you've looked at your business, you know, it's not your systems, you know, it's really, you need an extra pair of hands, but what to even have them do.
[00:37:55] So let's go ahead and talk about things that you can delegate where to get [00:38:00] started. And this isn't going to be the same for everyone. This isn't like an exhaustive list of everybody should delegate these things first, before they delegate anything else. But I do want to give you some ideas on how to figure out what it is that should be not on your plate, what it is that you should be giving to somebody else, what the CEO does not need to be doing in your business.
[00:38:24]
[00:38:24] So a few months to go. I was talking about how, if you feel like money is the reason you can't delegate or hire someone that money probably isn't the actual problem that it's actually deeper than that. And it's really about your priorities and what you should be doing versus where you're actually spending your time.
[00:38:41] What's bringing money into the business. And so I'm looking at that. This goes directly, hand in hand with that. So I'm looking out, how am I spending my day? What am I spending my time on? What's bringing money into the business and then what are the other things that need to get done? But they [00:39:00] just don't need to be done by me because they're not the things that bring income into the business.
[00:39:05] And I break this down into two categories. There's the, what can only I do category and then there's everything else. There's the stuff that literally nobody else can do. It has to be me. It's my secret sauce. And then there's all the other tasks that either have to get done or I want to get done. And so once I have that list, I, at the very least no to prioritize the things that only I can do.
[00:39:31] And then whenever possible, I try to delegate everything else. Now I don't have, I have a huge team, so I'm not coming at this from a place of like having five virtual assistants and a copywriter. And somebody who's doing this and someone who's doing that, like I don't have those things. And so you do not need to have those things.
[00:39:49] Either. So please do not take this as, Oh my gosh. I don't have enough people helping me like this isn't for me because I can't hire a big team right now. No, no, no. That is [00:40:00] not the case. This is all about understanding what's in both of those lists. The only I can do it list and the everything else list.
[00:40:09] This is about understanding where your priorities should be, so that as your business does grow and you want to delegate more, you can. And when that time comes, you'll not only know what to have them do, but also who the right person is or the right type of person. So this is definitely not a journey that I'm on the other side of.
[00:40:27] And I will also say that it is not a journey that I'm rushing either. This is just something I'm always thinking about. I'm always aware of, because I know that as my business grows, I want to be able to hire. I want to be able to delegate. I want the freedom. That most of us are really looking for out of our businesses, the freedom that allows us to step out of the office when we need to step out of the office and be there for our families, or be there just to have some fun or rest or take care of ourselves or whatever it is.
[00:40:56] I want to be able to do that and have that freedom. And so [00:41:00] that for me, involves hiring a team, that's going to help take care of my business when I'm not there or take care of my business and the tasks that just aren't right for me. So, what I actually do is I keep a running list of future dream hires.
[00:41:16] And every time I do something that I really don't think is on the only I can do it, list, I go and add it to their list. These imaginary people that I have in my brain. So I quite literally have lists this. Isn't just in my head. I have them written down. I put them in my project management tool. You can put them in a Google doc or on a piece of paper or the notes app on your phone, whatever suits your fancy, but.
[00:41:40] I put down who it is. So we've been using this copywriter example cause that's someone I'd really like to hire. So I have a list for copywriting tasks and then every time I do something that involves writing, I add it to that list. And then I have another one for another type of hire that I'd like to have.
[00:41:57] Eventually I'd like to have a full time [00:42:00] customer support team. So anytime I do anything, customer support related, I add it to that task. And so the longer the list. The easier it is for me to see what is the next role that I should hire for. So if the copywriting list is a lot longer than the customer support list, then I know that that is a role.
[00:42:19] That's probably something I need to get some help with faster because there's a lot more tasks involved. It's probably going to have a higher return on investment for me. And that's not a be all end all. I'm sure there's somebody listening to this. Who's like, well, that's not necessarily true, but for me, that has worked out.
[00:42:35] And so you can see. Start there and just keep an eye on it. You might look at it and say, you know what, there's more tasks for the copywriter, but what I really need is customer support. And so you go and hire customer support, whatever it is, but ultimately having that list and being really aware of who you need and what you need them to do is how you're going to know what tasks you can delegate [00:43:00] first.
[00:43:00]Before I ever hired my virtual assistant, I actually had a running list of things that she could do. And so anytime I did something that just didn't feel like I needed an expert and I also didn't feel like something that should be on my plate. I would go and put it on that list. And I did a couple of things for me.
[00:43:19] It took all of the pressure off of having to know what somebody else could do. So I just kept this list going on a day-to-day basis. Anytime I felt myself going, Ugh, I really wish I didn't have to do this. Like, it would be great if someone else could do this for me, I'd go and I'd add it to the list. So there was never any pressure to sort of figure it all out at once, which holds a lot of people back.
[00:43:42] If you have to figure it all out at once, it's really hard to take that next step. But by having a list that I had been adding to and contributing to over time, I only ever had to really think of one thing at a time. So one day I thought they could respond to emails. And then on another day I thought it would be [00:44:00] great if they could take care of all of our anchor card customers when they need their lead magnets.
[00:44:05] Set up. And so we just, whenever I thought of these individual random little things, I added them to this task list and it sort of had a snowball effect. It was little, teeny, tiny things adding up to one bigger. List of stuff that needed to get done. And so when I hired my assistant, it was a lot easier. I knew exactly what I needed.
[00:44:28] I knew exactly what it took to get it done. Cause they were all tasks that I had been doing all along. And so it made it very simple for me to go out and know who I was looking for and what I needed them to do. So before we wrap all this up, I want to give you a really clear action plan moving forward.
[00:44:45] So here's what you're going to do to get started, figuring out if it's time to take a delegate and then keeping that running list. So you know what to delegate when the time does come. So first and foremost, Grab some paper or Google doc, whatever you want and just [00:45:00] make a list of every task that you can think of.
[00:45:02] Even if you don't do this all at once, maybe just have a Google doc open on your computer or a note on your phone that you add to all week long, write down everything that you can think of, that you do on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. Then you're going to rewrite the list and you're going to sort each task into basically two columns or two categories.
[00:45:22] One is the only I can do it. And then one is the, it doesn't have to be me list. And I want you to be really picky about what you keep for yourself. Imagine that you have a thousand dollars budget
[00:45:33] anything that you do costs a hundred dollars. Anything that you have somebody else do cost $10, use your budget really wisely when you're breaking up your list into the only I can do it and someone else can do it list. And as you're making this list, you're obviously not going to be able to delegate and hire for all of these things right away.
[00:45:54] And there's. Some things that you might just continue to do forever, that it doesn't make sense to give away [00:46:00] because maybe you love doing it, or it's something that you just want to be able to continue doing. That's okay. But as you make this list, it's going to help you become more aware of what's going on in your business so that you can start to figure out what you want somebody else to do for you, who you need to hire, what you need them to do.
[00:46:19] And so at the same time, once you've made your list of tasks that someone else could be doing, you can also start creating your dream hire list. You might be at the point where you just really want a general VA who can come in and just help you in all of the things who can do a lot of different things for you.
[00:46:37] That's what I needed first. Or you might be at a point where you're like, okay, I have a VA, or that's just not who I need. I really need a subject matter expert. I need the copywriter. I need the marketing strategist. I need the social media manager, whatever it is. And so you can make a list of the person or people that you'd like to one day hire and just start sorting out those tasks.
[00:46:59] And then [00:47:00] any tasks that you think of over time into the categories of who is it that you want to hire. Is this a task for a copywriter? Is this a task that you think a general VA could do whatever it is. And with that, I'll add one more quick note that. Just because an expert can do it doesn't mean you have to have a goal of having the expert do it.
[00:47:19] So for example, if you want to hire a copywriter, you don't necessarily have to say, I want to hire a copywriter. You could say, I want to find a VA to help me with this big list of things that can also help me with copywriting. So remember, there's different levels of the person that you're hiring.
[00:47:35] There's different skills that they're going to have, and then there's different budgets that you need to be aware of. So just be realistic about. Who you're trying to hire and what you want them to do based on your needs, based on their expertise. And then also based on your budget and where your business is right now, remember that things can always change in the future.
[00:47:54] The people who help you get right here right now might not be the same people that get you to the next [00:48:00] level. The people that get you to the next level might not be the people who get used to the next level after that. That is okay. So just be aware of that going in now to help you do all of this.
[00:48:09] I actually put together a free workbook that you can download on anchor design code.com/. Ten four episode 10, and this will actually help you figure out what your daily, weekly, and monthly tasks are. It'll help you create your only I can do it list and then your, it doesn't have to be me list. And then also create your dream hire lists so that you can better understand what to delegate and who could be doing it and who could be supporting you.
[00:48:34] So I am going to put a link to that in the show notes, but if you also just type in anchor design, co.com/. 10, the number 10, you can download this right from my website and that's a free download to help you get started. So let's do one final recap and then wrap this thing up. I think this is a record for my longest episode ever.
[00:48:57] So if you're here right now, thank you for [00:49:00] sticking with me. I'm really glad you're here. And I hope that you're proud of yourself for showing up and doing this for your business. This is really like self-care for your business. . So. In closing, we've got three types of people that you can hire.
[00:49:14] We have the expert on a subject matter, like social media manager or a copywriter. Then we have someone that you have to train and is not a business owner themselves. They are going to be very green or have no experience. And then we also have a VA or virtual assistant who has experience working with clients and is an expert at supporting other business owners, but can still take on a wide variety of tasks.
[00:49:38] Then in terms of how to know when it's time to delegate, there's really two signs when you're running out of time, which again could also be a sign that you need to get better systems in place, but running out of time. And then when you're taking on tasks that you're not an expert in doing, you also don't want to be the expert in doing, and then finally how to get out of your own [00:50:00] way slash how to get over yourself when it comes to delegating, which is.
[00:50:04] Is it money that's holding you back? Is it control that's holding you back or is it that you just don't know what to delegate? And of course, you know that when I say. Is it money that's holding you back? What I really mean is, is it your priorities that are holding you back and then last but not least ideas for what to delegate, start by looking at what you currently do and the value of each task.
[00:50:28] And should you be doing it versus can somebody else. Do this and then start keeping your running lists and then you can get my free workbook on how to understand your tasks. Give them value, decide what to delegate, and then figure out who to hire@anchordesignco.com slash 10, or click the link in the show notes of this episode.
[00:50:50] Thank you so much for being here with me today. And don't forget to take a moment to give yourself some praise and recognition for the fact that [00:51:00] you're here right now and that you did this. For you, you're showing up for yourself. And that is something that you should absolutely be proud of. And I want to make sure you're giving yourself credit for that.
[00:51:10]And if you enjoyed this episode, can you please do two super quick things for me first, take a second to leave a rating and review of the podcast on iTunes. And then if you could take a quick screenshot of the podcast and share it on your Instagram stories and then tag me at anchor design co I would absolutely.
[00:51:28] Love that. And you would totally make my day when you share and review the podcast. You're not only helping the show reach more people, but you're really helping me know what kinds of episodes you're enjoying. So I can continue to create more content like that. My goal is to bring content to the table that truly benefits your business.
[00:51:47] That really gives you actionable steps. And so when you're showing me, Hey, this is the kind of content I like. I can do more of that. So anyway, thank you for rating interviewing. Thank you for sharing and tagging me. Thanks for hanging out with me [00:52:00] today. And I'll see you back here next week.
[00:52:03] Bye. For now.
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The Highlights:
Short & sweet episode highlights
What types of people can you hire and how much should you expect to pay them
2 Can’t-miss-it signs that it’s time to delegate
How to get out of your own way when it comes to giving tasks to someone other than yourself
What to delegate if you know you need help but just don’t know where to start
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