When you start a new business, you can expect three to five years of intense effort before your work flow and profits normalize. And those three to five years can be incredibly stressful if you aren't careful! So how do you take your business from stress to success?
I Need Help!
If your workload is too much to handle, congratulations! Too much work is great and means the time has come for someone else to take over tasks you don't enjoy or aren't familiar with. Tired of punching numbers and analysing their meaning? Hire an accountant to help you. Falling behind on writing weekly blog posts or creating your social media content? Hire a writing professional. If you can't afford to hire additional employees, freelancers help with your workload as needed.
Although money is probably tight, calculate how much more you could get done if you freed up extra time. A cost benefit analysis will likely show that finding help is worth it!
What's Your Goal?
Take a moment to consider where you are and where you want to be. Look at what you really need to focus on to reach your ultimate goal. If a particular product, service or task is taking up a lot of your time, figure out if it is an unnecessary distraction or actually aligns with your core goals. If something doesn't fit, get rid of it! Always keep in mind where you want to end up, and make sure everything you do contributes to your goal in some way.
Delegate, Delegate, Delegate!
You know you can't do everything yourself, but delegating is the one of the greatest struggles for new business owners. Letting go is hard, but again, the idea that your business has grown to the point where you need help is a good thing! Look again at your core focus, decide what only you can do, and delegate everything else. Realize that tasks might not get done your way, but also know that, with different experiences thrown in the mix, your product might improve! Delegating will take your business to the next level while leaving you with a little less stress day-to-day.
Accept that you need help, stay true to your ultimate goal and delegate whenever possible. You'll go from stress to success before you know it!
