Last month we hosted our 9th BOP 12 Week Plan LIVE Event with over 130 business owners and key leaders in the room all culminating with each person working on their next 12 week plan.
Each event we ask for feedback on what people are struggling with, it was overwhelmingly clear what the current headache is in owning a business. One owner said it this way, “I need to cut the distractions, and get a real employee to help me!”
The curse of the business owner is taking the superhero mindset into their business and setting a stage where they are the promoter, the actor, the director, the stage hand, the writer, the ticket seller, the janitor, and everything in between.
We believe that no one is equipped to help. We say things like, “I hate having to have employees.”
In reality, employees generally want to be useful and valuable to the organization that they are a part of. We tend to be the missing link.
Here are five clear things you can do to make sure that your mission gets the help it needs.
First, do you really believe in your mission? If you do, there is no way to do it alone. If you do not have a written mission then go to work to create one sentence that is less than 12 words that will capture why you do what you do.
At Business On Purpose we are obsessed with liberating business owners from the chaos of working IN their business.
Second, write out every task that you are currently doing yourself or that you know needs to be done. Once you can visually see those tasks and how much time they take each week you will awaken to the sober realization that you cannot do it all yourself and remain healthy.
Third, write out a simple job role. Take those tasks, lump them into a role, articulate how each of those tasks are done and then go find the right person. Make sure to spend the extra time putting together a budget for the role based on your actual financials...do not guess.
Fourth, go find a person to match the role. Don’t focus on a person with a pulse, instead focus on someone who has the personality, the skill, and the desire to work this role towards the mission you have laid out.
Finally, empower, equip, deploy, rinse and repeat. Take the role and the processes of each task and walk through them with your new team member. Send them out to do the task and provide a weekly (at minimum) set time and place to follow up with progress of their deployment.
Let’s put an end to the mindset that we “hope they do it right”, and instead own the mindset that will work to empower, equip, and deploy so you can have some real help so you can impact your real mission.
You don’t have to do it all yourself. You yourself can be liberated from the chaos of working IN your business.
Scott Beebe is the founder of Business On Purpose, author of Let Your Business Burn: Stop Putting Out Fires, Discover Purpose, And Build A Business That Matters. Scott also hosts The Business On Purpose Podcast and can be found at mybusinessonpurpose.com.