Having a can-do attitude at the start is a good thing, but you can’t be a do-it all person when your small business grows. The task of dealing with clients, solving employee conflicts and preparing strategic documents can leave you overwhelmed.
Delegating your tasks is one of the most difficult transitions you’ve got to make. While you may think relinquishing control to a manager can reduce profitability and revenue, hiring the right person for the job will help your growing business transition into an industry powerhouse.
The big question is when–when is the right time to bring in someone who you can delegate or share the burden of running your business? There are some signs that’ll indicate the need of a business manager.
Signs Indicating You Need An Extra Man On Your Team
1. You don’t have time to do what you’re best at
As the owner of the business, you’ll be the one coming up with innovative ideas that appeals to your target market. However, when your business enters the growth phase, you are forced to concentrate on other tasks such as business development and marketing. Being a lone entrepreneur of a growing business won’t give you time for brainstorming or idea generation.
As the creative head of the company, it’s important that you delegate business operations to a manager so that you can continue to allocate your time efficiently. Take, as an example, the work of Jeff Bartel, a long-time industry professional who uses unique programs to train prospective managers in adapting his or her skills to delegated tasks and taking on leadership roles.
2. Multitasking is not feasible anymore
One of the most important sections of your enterprise that you can’t neglect at any cost is your sales team. You need to keep a close eye on them to make sure that they’re productive for most of their time, but when the business is growing, it can become difficult to focus on your own tasks and manage them.
Multitasking can be possible for you until the size of your business stays small, but when you don’t even have time to access the performance of the employees, that’s an indicator that you need a manager. Prolonging the hire will lead to issues that look small in nature but can cause a great amount of damage to business operations.
3. The business is expanding to new locations
During growth phase, you may decide to open up several offices in different locations, which means that there will be greater burden on your shoulders. Getting someone to look after some or all of the locations will be important for long-term growth.
Expanding to new locations takes time, but it’s a phase that most growing businesses have to go through. As you can’t be physically present in every location to see how everyone’s doing, having someone who does that for you day in and day out will be beneficial.
4. Your business is stable
You’ve worked hard to develop a respectable enterprise and your business is now stable in terms of sales and profits. This can be the time when you decide to enjoy the fruits of your hard work with little input.
That doesn’t mean that you should completely neglect the business, but hire someone who understands your vision and improves upon it.
These factors indicate the need for stepping out of your bubble and bringing in someone who can reduce your burden, suggest new ideas and improve business operations.