When you started your business, it was probably pretty simple to handle everything on your own. You wore all the hats and maybe even wore them most of the time, because it was just you.
As your business expands, things often get more complicated. Now, wearing all the hats means you have no time to have a life! You might find that you're unable to keep up with everything like you once did.
Been there, done that!
Whether you're looking at delegating to other team members or automating a few things to relieve the pressure valve, you're going to need help to advance your company. Here are a few telltale signs that your home business has grown to the point where it needs to be more than just you.
It could be a sign that your home business is growing too big for just you if you find yourself working longer hours than you had planned. This could indicate that you are struggling to meet demand or that you just don't have enough time in the day to do everything that needs to be done. For instance, it can be a hint that you need assistance if you are spending more time handling administrative duties or customer service requests than actively operating the business.
Another sign that your firm is expanding and will need more resources is when you have observed a sustained and significant increase in revenue. Having additional help isn't free. You need to be able to financially sustain the help you're trying to hire. Once the income is there, hiring help can let you focus on other areas of running a successful business while also ensuring that all chores are handled effectively.
If you've already got some help, but still find that you are doing too much work that's outside your zone of genius, it may be a sign that you need more assistance. Although many business owners find this to be a challenging transition, it is crucial for the expansion and success of your home business. Hiring a specialist or a service provider like a VA agency like MyVA.Rocks or a marketing firm like Adtaxi could help with this.
The expectations of your company will rise along with the number of customers. It could be time to consider hiring someone else who can help fulfil demand if you discover that there aren't enough hours in the day to meet all of the demands of your customers. You might require someone to manage customer support or to contribute to further product development, for instance.
Finally, it could be time to make an investment in someone who can help manage this part of your organization if you notice that you are lagging behind on new technology and trends. Hiring a specialist in this area could make the difference between staying ahead or falling behind as staying ahead of the competition is vital for the growth of any firm. Hiring a social media expert, for instance, might help your business stay competitive if you find it difficult to keep up with the most recent developments in online marketing.
It could be a good idea to start thinking about employing extra workers to help operate your home business if any of these symptoms sound familiar. For your company to continue to succeed and keep up with demand, you must ensure that you have enough resources available. The most crucial thing is to choose carefully - but CHOOSE before it's too late. Preventative measures taken now can spare your company a lot of trouble in the future. Find someone with the abilities to support the success of your company by doing your homework!
As a creative entrepreneur, it can be challenging to learn to let go of certain parts of your business. As a Fusion Creative, I still find myself struggling from time to time with asking for and receiving help. BUT, without delegation, you will struggle to see growth.
Delegation isn’t just telling other people to do things on your behalf when you feel overwhelmed - it’s also about giving someone the authority they need to do the task and then managing them accordingly to ensure success. If you're familiar with Mike Michalowicz's book, Clockwork: Design your business to run itself, you've heard this before. You don't just assign a task, you delegate the outcome.
If you’re new to the practice of delegation and want to know how to do it the right way, here are some things that may help you.
Delegation isn’t just telling other people to do things on your behalf when you feel overwhelmed - it’s also about giving someone the authority they need to do the task and then managing them accordingly to ensure success. If you're familiar with Mike Michalowicz's book, Clockwork: Design your business to run itself, you've heard this before. You don't just assign a task, you delegate the outcome.
If you’re new to the practice of delegation and want to know how to do it the right way, here are some things that may help you.
Delegating doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to give up all of the things that you currently do for your business. If you are particularly good at something, then it can be beneficial to lean into your strength and start delegating your areas of weakness.
Start with the "low-risk" tasks - things that won't cause the business to fall apart if something goes wonky. As time goes on, and your trust level grows with your delegatee, you'll be able to pass off more complicated tasks.
Many entrepreneurs believe that they need to have in-house staff to which they can delegate, but you've got options! Outsourcing and automation are also forms of delegation and can help you streamline your operations and grow your business during times when you can't afford to hire in-house. Tools like Convertkit and Mailchimp automate your email. Zapier can automate a bunch of things, and you can also hire VAs or even outside contractors to help. For example, suppose you’re trying to source a product from China (or have it made there). In that case, you might look to a company like leelinesourcing or Alibaba - experts in that particular field. Just be sure to check out this helpful how-to guide from Forbes first!
Picking the right person for the job doesn’t automatically mean picking a person who can already do it. There are times when training someone to do it makes sense. If you're hiring a person to fill a specific role in your company, but they're short on one or two skills for that role, training them not only increases their value to the company, it also frees YOU up from having to do it anymore!
Think about it this way... is there someone already in our company who:
If you've already got someone that fits that description, then it might be a better choice to train instead of hire.
You must provide your candidate with a project brief or a process document if you expect them to effectively complete the task you have delegated to them. Successful delegators explain not only the steps to take (if it's a repetitive task), but also the result they are looking for (in detail), including how the project fits into the bigger picture of the company. You also need to provide a clear definition of what success looks like and how you will measure it during the project and at completion.
Delegation doesn’t end when you give your brief. You also need to establish project milestones to check progress effectively. When you first start to delegate, it can be tempting to micromanage individuals. Establishing checkpoints will help prevent you from micromanaging, allowing you to get on with your work. It also helps keep your delegate stay focused without unnecessary interruptions from you! Milestones help you know if a project is on track for completion and doesn't leave you "holding the bag" at the project due date having nothing done.
Delegating is an extremely useful skill to learn. It helps you manage your resources, build a team where delegation is embedded in the culture, and grow an efficient and effective team around you. Want more help? Check out the Creative Freedom Apprenticeship, which is now included in the Level One Incubator!
This is Season Four, Episode Three. The overwhelm episode. Overwhelm is a common trap for creative entrepreneurs caught in an underearning cycle. What can you do when you're knee deep in a project (or multiple projects) and have to keep going? Lisa shares what she learned running her first (and only) 10-mile foot race about how to keep momentum when you get overwhelmed.
This is the second episode in a Summer-long series that deals with different aspects and triggers for underearning. If you want to take this learning deeper, consider joining Overcoming Underearning for Creative Entrepreneurs.
Download Season 4 Episode 3 | iTunes | Anchor | Stitcher
If you’re listening to just the podcast, you’re only getting about a third of the deal. Catch the Creative Freedom web series or join me on Facebook on Fridays at 5:30pm Central time for a LIVE Q&A about the week's topic.
01:06 - How running The Crim (as an overweight 26-year old) gave me a new perspective on dealing with overwhelm.
03:38 - The importance of a finish line in a race (and your work).
07:12 - The "Heartbreak Hill" of overwhelm, and how to get from the start to the finish through even the toughest part of your "race" - even if it's not sexy.
12:15 - Why running together is a different race than running alone, and how that impacts the way you deal with overwhelm.
17:11 - The reasons the 3 creative types can't give up control or accept help - and how to see things differently.
20:14 - The art of delegation - it may not be what you think it is.
Download the delegation worksheet in the member area
Not a member? It's free! Click here to join our Rising Tide to get email updates, transcripts, and bonus downloadables only available to members.
Mentioned in this episode:
Music: "Welcome to the Show" by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
We're slowly recovering from the rollover last week. My son's doing better this week, but we're still not out of the woods. Thanks for all the kind thoughts and well-wishes. It really did make the whole week seem better.
Through it all, thankfully, I still managed to get the important things in my life and work done. How? I learned a very simple way to prioritize my day so that what's really important gets handled. No. Matter. What.
About a year ago, I shared a brief overview of The PEACE System in one of the first season episodes. The one hurdle that people keep bringing to me is the never-ending to-do list. Despite prioritizing everything, there's a LOT of to-do's that still aren't getting done.
This week, we're digging into why.
Warning: you may be stepping on a few toes when you do, but never fear! The Spice Girls are here to help you!
Inside The PEACE System, I talk about three different kinds of to-do's. By paying attention to the different kinds of to-do's on your list, you can get a better handle on what is keeping you from getting more of the right things done.
Must-Do's are activities that must be done AND must be done by YOU, in order to reap the benefit. Generally, these are what I consider IPA - Important Personal Activities, or Income-Producing Activities. The definitions of those terms (like so many of the terms I use) are loose, and open to your interpretation. Brushing your teeth is a must-do. It's not likely you're going to get someone else to do it for you, and if you don't do it, well, there are consequences. Within the Must-Do category, there are a couple of types of Must-Do's - Routine/preventative (like brushing your teeth, seeing your kid's class play, or doing client work, for example), and Emergency (car roll-over, in-laws decided to drop in, that kind of thing).
The irony of many Emergency Must-Do's is that they are often (but not always) the result of NOT doing the Routine Must-Do's. If you don't get your tires checked on schedule, you could end up with a blowout on the freeway which causes the car to roll over - and the subsequent trip to the Emergency room. Do not skip the Routine stuff just because it's unsexy, or doesn't seem urgent. Preventative maintenance is crucial in your life and business!
Want To-Do's are all those activities related to the fun things we really want to do - like taking a trip (or planning it), visiting friends, working on a hobby, reading, watching a movie, etc. These aren't things that move the needle on our business, and they're not necessarily Must Do's, but we really want to do them. Chaotic and Fusion creatives tend to have a long list of Want To-Do's, which can lead to resentment, anger, frustration, and other disempowering emotions when you can't find the time to do those things. This typically results in an "all or nothing" rampage where work on everything else stops until you can clear some of the Want To-Do's off your list. Like the day I refused to do any work and just binge-watched my favorite show on Netflix all day. Not productive, but I sure did enjoy myself - until I started feeling guilty about not getting any work done.
Should-Do's are the bane of humanity. And I don't say that lightly. Everything from the well-meaning insinuations of your friends and family ("you should really finish packing for your trip, sweetie!"), to the more overt accusations we throw at ourselves ("I should really get to the gym this week!"), Should-Do's are the things that we throw into our day without making them a real priority. In the end, you may find yourself accomplishing a lot of Should-Do's, but not moving forward on your most important priorities at all. You sure are busy, but you're spinning your wheels on unimportant tasks - or worse, waffling from "should" to "should" - like bouncing back and forth between email and facebook messages for ten or fifteen minutes, just to be "sure" you're not missing anything important - and not getting anything accomplished at all.
Not that I speak from experience, or anything (sigh).
It's easy to get stuck in a "should-do" loop, and the only way to break the cycle is to make a decision. If it's a real priority, put it in your calendar and act on it appropriately. If you're not sure if it's a priority or not, try using the Eisenhower Matrix to help you get clarity. If it's not a priority, don't pretend like it is - even to appease your family or friends. In reality, you're doing a disservice to yourself and those well-meaning loved ones. Instead, set and enforce clear boundaries around your priorities and your time. And...
Be willing to accept the consequences of the priorities you set. (Tweet This)
Some people will balk at your new-found decisiveness. After all, you've been training them to give you all this well-meaning advice for a while now. It may take time to get them on board with this new direction. Your biggest fans, however, will understand that this is something you've got to do to take control of your calendar and start gaining momentum toward that Noble Empire and inspired life you're creating.
Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments, and let's be a rising tide fo everyone. If you're interested in learning more about The PEACE System, be sure to get on the wait list, as enrollment re-opens this fall.
Catch the previous posts here: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
Welcome to Day 5 of the Creative Freedom Challenge!
Today's topic is dangerous, and muy importante. As a coach and trainer myself, it's a bit sacrilegious for me to suggest that spending mucho dinero on some guru's "blueprint" or training program is a bad idea. I mean, I offer my own programs and services to help creative entrepreneurs build profitable businesses, so why would I put my own business in jeopardy by saying something like this?
For one, I make a point of telling my clients that no one approach will work for everyone, and that my programs are built on frameworks - customizeable elements that you can modify based on who you are and what really matters to you.
For another, not everyone needs a coach, a program, or a blueprint. Period. Sometimes you're already on the right path, you just need more time to get where you're headed. Confucius said "it does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop."
Blueprints have their place. But they're not the be-all, end all of your business building efforts.
Around 1920 in my hometown, General Motors established a house-building division to provide housing for all the new factory workers coming to live and work there. The Modern Housing Corporation built homes across industrial America using a handful of designs. In my old neighborhood, there were just three different house plans on my street - but every house was as unique as the owner that lived in it.
This is where architects begin. But they can only take you so far. And it completely lacks in any personality until you put your fingerprint on the design. Sure, you'll know exactly how to build a house that has a certain structure, but then what? The blueprint doesn't tell you anything about the neighborhood the house is being built in, the furniture or paint that will decorate it, or the people that will live in it once it's complete.
If you've ever lived in a house that just didn't work for you, you understand this problem intimately!
If you're further along than "just starting out", you probably don't need a blueprint. What's more, in business, more often than not, a blueprint only helps with a skill set - it shows you a particular way to do something related to building your business... like how to do a webinar, how to build a mailing list, or how to grow an audience.
All those things are great, but you need to also understand how they work together in YOUR unique situation. Depending on the Great Work that you do, you'll need a strategy to implement several tactics. Should you send a weekly email, or will you need to use video? Do you need a large audience, or do you prefer something more intimate? What about social media? And joint ventures, and blogging, and....
...you get the picture.
In my decades in the online world (I built one of the first e-commerce websites back in the 1990's!), I've learned how to do LOTS and LOTS of things. I've learned and used LOTS of different tactics, strategies, platforms, and tools to support and grow my businesses. But deciding which ones to use (and how much, and when) are like the interior design of a home. I had to figure out what worked for me.
You'll have to do the same for yourself.
Yes. I said HAVE to. If you want to stop being a best-kept secret (or worse, a commodity), you need to "decorate" with your own flair. You need to find what works for who you are, who you serve, and how you want to show up in the world.
But that doesn't have to be as hard as it sounds.
Inventory Your Tools & Skills
Think about all the tools & skills you need to to your Great Work and bring it to the world. Start building a list and make special note of the ones that you enjoy.
Bookkeeping, design, email marketing, webinars, craft shows... whatever it is, just start building a list. Me? I love performing, but I don't always like rehearsing. Both are important to bring my Great Work into the world, but performing gets a special "hell yeah" from me.
It could be you like working in-person vs. online, mid afternoon vs. evenings, or that you couldn't live without your email list or bridge line. Maybe you like twitter over facebook, bookkeeping over customer service, or the phone over Skype. Maybe you really haven't figured out what makes your heart sing, but you have an inkling that some things are working better for you than others.
You might have also tapped into some less tangible resources. One of the first students in the Creative Freedom Apprenticeship listed "positivity" as one of her resources. You might find that you can't live without positive people, or a sense of freedom. These less tangible resources are just as important as your physical tools of the trade - sometimes more so.
The point of this list is to give you more clarity (Yay! Clarity!). This is the short list of what works for who you are and what you're up to right now. And yes, that list is bound to change over time because YOU change over time. Don't get married to it, and don't start making sweeping changes because of it. For now, the awareness is enough.
But what about the tools and resources that aren't a good fit?
Here's where I want you to start thinking beyond yourself.
It's also incredibly smart and a great way to encourage greatness in others. Don't believe me?
POP QUIZ: Without Googling, can you tell me the name of Leonardo da Vinci's teacher?
Most people, if they're not travelling in art circles, can't tell you a thing about Verrocchio. If they do know him, he's most often referred to as "da Vinci's teacher"
It's like when the teachers at my son's elementary school knew me as "Forest's mom." For them, my identity didn't exist beyond their knowledge of my kid. It didn't matter that I was a musician with multiple albums to my credit, or that I've helped clients double or triple their income, launch best-selling books, and create entirely new revenue streams for their businesses (plus reduce the amount of time they need to spend managing things).
Nope. I was just "Forest's mom" to them.
Verrocchio was a master in his own right: sculptor, painter, goldsmith. People paid hefty sums to have their children study with him.
Verrocchio's method was simple: he'd start a project and leave it to his apprentice to finish it up. In that way, the apprentice learned how to paint, sculpt, or smith exactly the way Verrocchio did.
With so many Verrocchio clones out there, competition would drive prices down. So rather than compete on price, Verrocchio kept his students employed in his own studios. Verrocchio's students were able to make a decent living by replicating Verrocchio's style. Essentially, his students became his clones... for a fraction of Verrocchio's rate.
Verrocchio made a great living teaching and paying other artists to paint, sculpt, and smith the same way he did. He was able to leverage his time and money well enough to have multiple studios in Europe.
There's nothing wrong with following a blueprint. Blueprints can be very important. They do what they're designed to do, that's why people use them. Verrocchio's "blueprint" was a model for making a living creating art other people would pay for. It worked, which is why so many people paid him to teach his craft to their children. All they had to do was follow "the master's blueprint" and they were practically guaranteed a job in Verrocchio's studio for life.
This dude could not be contained! Sure, he learned the Verrocchio "blueprint", but he didn't limit himself to being just a painter or a sculptor.He learned the principles behind Verrocchio's teaching, then applied them in his own way. His unique gift was in seeing the world through fresh eyes.
daVinci's sketch books are filled with drawings and concepts that would have made Verrocchio roll over in his grave. "A flying machine? Che Idiota!"
da Vinci's ideas didn't fit the blueprint, but they represented who da Vinci wanted to be in the world.
So Leonardo da Vinci broke out of Verrocchio's mold and forged his own path outside the studio.
There's a time and a place for a blueprint. But at some point, the student becomes the master and must forge their own path. Just as you need to become the master of your own work, there are "students" of your Great Work, too. You might call them fans or clients, but they're all wanting to experience what you have to offer.
You don't have to do it all on your own, either. Verrocchio had plenty of apprentices in his studios. But you don't have to "clone" yourself to get great help.
Which is where Edison comes in.
Another great inventor, Edison spent every waking minute working on his projects. He was passionate and deeply committed. His wife would sometimes give him a hard time about sleeping at the laboratory. But if he hadn't put in all those hours (and nearly 1000 failed attempts to sustain electric light), we might not have many of the technological advances we take for granted today.
Film, music, and even the Internet owe much to Mr. Edison.
Yet, even with all the hours Thomas Edison put into his Great Work, he knew he couldn't do it all himself.
In fact, many of his greatest inventions were possible because of the team of scientists and inventors that worked with him.
Collaboration and Creation
This is the core of creative entrepreneurship. When you're able to trust your team to co-create and collaborate with you, you get more than just Verrocchio's brand of "discounted copies". You get lasting relationships, you make progress faster, and you can leverage your time in meaningful ways.
Edison didn't just leave his Great Work to his cloned minions. He leveraged his time by bringing in smart, savvy people (like Tesla) so that he could do the things that only Edison could. Edison understood the value of a team, but unlike Verrocchio, he also understood that when great minds come together, a greater mind is created. There's power in collaboration - when you bring together brilliant minds to handle and even improve upon the work you're doing. He didn't always agree with those minds (which is why Tesla left), but he created space for collaboration.
Edison had a vision to illuminate the entire Eastern seaboard and eventually the entire country.
Remember the Artisan trap? If Edison didn't have a team, he'd have spent all his time making and installing lightbulbs instead of focusing on how to market and sell his vision of electricity in every home across the country. In fact, if he had stayed the course, we'd be running on DC power, instead of the more efficient AC power developed by one Tesla. Because Edison was willing to let his collaborators explore other ideas, Tesla eventually left Edison, and took his AC ideas where they had a better chance of implementation.
While Edison is credited on 1093 patents in his lifetime, it didn't happen without the collaborative team working in his lab in Menlo Park. Edison fostered an environment of creative collaboration.
For some creative entrepreneurs, that sounds scary. "What if someone steals my ideas?" Yeah. It happens, but not nearly as often as you think.
Look, you can't play all the instruments in the band. You need to be willing to ask for and accept help appropriately. Sure, your piano player might move on to a new group, but without his help now, your band won't be playing anywhere.
Be willing to ask for (and accept) help in bringing your Great Work to your right audience. As the African proverb says "If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together." It's worth noting that sometimes, when you work together, you can go farther faster.
If you're ready to jump into the Creative Freedom Apprenticeship, click here to learn more and get registered. Our next session begins soon!
Shazam! My audition in Detroit for The Voice went better than I expected, although I did not get called back. It's always fun for me to go to "The D" and this time was no exception. I learned some powerful business lessons during my long wait in the audition line (post coming soon), plus I met a childhood friend of Anita Baker who designs Mustangs at Ford! We had a fun time connecting and learning about each other. Hooray for new friends!
Speaking of, this week's video is actually a request from my facebook page. Jessica-Lynn Sage asked about hiring help in your business. Her big concern was in being able to trust someone else to handle the work and "let go" of doing it yourself.
The timing couldn't have been more perfect, since I've been working on my photo shoot for the new album (and website). This week's episode of Creative Freedom gives you the low down on how I sourced and "hired" the team for this shoot.
But there's something else I didn't include in the video that's also important...
In my research, I've been exploring the three different types of creative entrepreneurs (a quiz is coming soon!), and each one has their own sets of challenges. Chaotic Creatives look for people they trust with their vision and the direction they're trying to go as creative individuals. Linear Creatives are more concerned with getting results NOW - and getting the "right people on the bus" as Jim Collins would say. I'm a Fusion Creative, so I tend to walk the line between the two. Results are important to me, but I also don't want people to deviate too far from my vision, so I'm willing to forego some short-term results for a better overall project at completion. Understanding your Creative Entrepreneur type will help you know what to look for in hiring your support staff, as well as your temporary team members, like my photographer and stylist for this shoot.
Like the contract riders rock stars have for "green skittles," Chaotic Creatives want to adhere to the vision above all else - no exceptions or deviations. It's that kind of exacting, demanding nature that makes Steve Jobs both a brilliant mind and a jerk.
Because my vision included some specific shots I wanted, and a certain look and feel, I put together a pinterest board of ideas and inspiration. I put the call out on Facebook for a photographer (Thanks Heidi!). I shared that board with everyone, and made sure they were in sync with what I was trying to achieve. I actually had someone that didn't like my idea - so they were off the team. I knew my direction for the project, and didn't want to deviate.
At the same time, I didn't want to wait around for months to make this happen. We had already been negotiating a shooting date for a few weeks, and I know it takes a bit more time after the shoot to get the raw photos processed. So I really wanted to have it all hammered out before school got out on June 9. When my original venue fell through, the photographer suggested an alternate outdoor location. She recommended and secured a stylist, and we finally booked June 8 (we couldn't have cut it much closer, right?).
Linear creatives tend to focus on structures, routines, and processes. Above all else, don't deviate from the system (versus the vision), because the system works. It's the kind of strategic creative thinking that made Edison a genius in the lab, but a social misfit with his own family.
When it rained the day of the shoot, the outdoor venue wasn't viable, so we punted, opting for an indoor location for almost all of the shots (Thanks, Ted!). The indoor venue provided a lot of great images we couldn't have gotten anywhere else, and my willingness to be flexible on the results made it possible to complete the project without dealing with rescheduling.
A true Chaotic Creative wouldn't negotiate on the details like that, while a Linear Creative would be more interested in meeting the deadline more than the creative vision. I fell somewhere in the middle, allowing for and trusting flow, but still making sure I got the key shots I wanted for the project.
For example, there was one shot I was insistent on having, and if we couldn't do it that day, I was willing to do it another time with another photographer if need be. Gratefully, mother nature cooperated in the end. The skies cleared up and I stood out in the middle of traffic while Heidi snapped the shot that will likely be the album cover. I like to think it was my flexibility that gave us the better weather near the end of our shoot.
Whether you're paying for help, or just getting started with asking for help, whether it's a long-term or short-term hire, you need to be able to trust that your team will do what you've asked them to do. The video outlines a few ideas, but did I leave anything out? What else should Jessica-Lynn know about getting help in her business? Leave a comment and be part of the Rising Tide for all the creative entrepreneurs in our community!