When you are an entrepreneur used to doing everything yourself it can sometimes be difficult to take help when you need it, to delegate tasks that you no longer need to do. Tasks that you can have someone else do free your time for more important things.
You are acting CEO, CFO and COO and you might think your business is growing appropriately. Sometimes you really can’t see the forest through the trees. You are too immersed in the business to see if you are meeting your goals and progressing as you should be.
I think it is important to know when to take on new projects because usually a new project means you will finally have to have help doing whatever it is you do. A true test!
It does take money to take on new projects, for personnel and materials. Sometimes there are travel expenses, legal fees, and many other expenses. In your COO role you should carefully scope out the project, figure how much it will cost and how much money it will make you.
Along with the money issues, there are many concessions and adjustments to be made when working with others because of differing work styles, hours, expertise, etc. When you factor in these concessions and adjustments, then maybe the new project you are planning will cost more than it will be worth to your business in the long run.
You need to make an informed decision as to whether the project will actually benefit your forward progress and take you in the direction you want to go.
I have always used a large network of contractors – specialists in their respective fields – whenever I have needed help for new projects and it has worked well for me.
You, as the owner, always have the final responsibility with your clients for any project and must remain involved in the work at some level.
However, if you do decide to take on a new project and hire a contractor, you must also be ready to let that person, who should be an expert in his or her field, do whatever you have hired them to do and then take a back seat, a difficult task. After all that’s usually the reason you became an entrepreneur in the first place, so you didn’t have to answer to anyone else!
At first there will be some time needed to familiarize the contractor with what you want done, to have them suggest to you how they would solve the current problem and at that point it would be easy to establish your role in the project as the controller when, in fact, your role should be one of an overseer and partner.
You should explain to your contractors that you expect certain conditions to be met during the project, establish timelines for certain aspects of the project, and follow through with these details.
Then let them do their job as your agent. Pass some of the responsibility on to the person you feel is qualified to do the job.
Article – Copyright 2001 Stanley I. Mason. Syndicated by Paradigm News, Inc.
