For a lot of folks, even if they're overwhelmed, there's still this part of them that wants to say "I can do it myself!"
When you're first starting your biz, it's a matter of survival to be able to wear all the hats and get everything done yourself. Another part is that if you're used to working on your own, it's sort of scary to give up some of the balls you're juggling.
I was getting ready to start with a new client last month, and as he and I were gabbing each day and getting to know each other better, he would talk about things that were weighing him down and clogging up his day, and I would say, "You know this is something that I can take off your plate. This is something that you don't even need to be messing with any more."
At first, each time I would say it he was a little surprised, like "Really? I don't have to do this anymore?"
At one point, early on, this over-busy guy even said, "My only concern is that I won't have enough stuff to keep you busy." And knowing what his schedule was like, I replied, "Are you kidding me?"
It took a few weeks of me chiming in and reminding him of what I could do to help before he adjusted his thinking from a "I'm a Lone Ranger" mindset to a "We're a team now; we share the load" mentality.
For most biz owners thinking of taking on an assistant or someone to help them manage their business, I think the biggest hurdle is wrapping their mind around the concept of exactly how can someone help make their daily life easier. It's actually hard to imagine at first.
Along these lines, KG had asked me to write a guest post for Write Now Is Good addressing a question that her readers had brought up:
What types of things can a writer delegate to save time?
I think that's an excellent question, and although you might not be a writer, if you're a biz owner who is thinking about teaming up with an assistant or a virtual business manager, you might be interested in the list of things I came up with. Here it is: Delegate tasks to save time
If you're wondering anything about this type of stuff, don't be shy. I'm happy to answer your questions :-).
Comments