I love nurses. They are my absolute heroes. If you are a nurse, I worship the ground you walk on. Truly.
If you’ve ever had a baby, you know how important nurses are. When I was in the hospital to give birth to my first baby, I was understandably scared, as are most women. I knew childbirth was not going to be easy, but I had been to all the prenatal classes and had been prepped on the beauty of an epidural. Unfortunately for me, by the time I was ready for the epidural during the delivery, there were three emergency c-sections at the hospital which meant no anesthesiologists and no epidural for me. WHAT!!???
Ramp up scared to holy-mother-of-god terrified. I was going to have a baby with no meds. This was not in the birthing plan! Enter Nurse Joan…
Nurse Joan was a no BS kind of girl and thankfully so. Had my nurse been a sweet, gentle person I wouldn’t have made it through. Nurse Joan was tough as nails and got the job done. She knew exactly what to do and say to get me to calm down enough to do my job. I will not confirm or deny if any choice words were thrown at Nurse Joan during that time, but I will say the only words I have for her now are THANK YOU.
As entrepreneurs, we somehow get it in our heads that we should do everything in our businesses ourselves. We think we need to push and struggle through each and every obstacle on our own, that if we don’t champion every facet of entrepreneurship we will fail. Well, it just isn’t true. In fact, if you are trying to do everything on your own, you are probably hurting more than helping your own success.
Each of us has skills and talents which come naturally. There are also proficiencies for which we must work harder to master. Then, however, there are a whole host of aptitudes which will always remain challenging for us. It is those areas which are most important for us to pass off to someone else.
I could never in a million years be a nurse, no way, no how. Put me in a room with very ill people and I will freeze up. Of course, as a responsible human being I would do my very best if the situation ever arose, but there are others far better suited for the task.
In business, there are usually two reasons we don’t delegate when it would be in our own best interest, fear or pride. Let’s face it, there is a certain amount of ego involved in admitting you can’t do something well. We worry it means were not good enough or smart enough to be successful entrepreneurs. This can be especially true if we see others doing something with which we struggle.
Be careful here. You do not know how skilled someone else actually is at doing certain tasks. They may be great at it, but they also may be schlepping through just like you. You have to wonder what else they are neglecting by focusing that task. Which is exactly what you should be asking yourself. What will not get done if you have to spend excessive time and energy on something outside of your sweet spot?
We also tend to fear outsourcing. What if someone else doesn’t do a good job? What if they don’t fulfill our vision? What if it costs too much? Ah, now we’re really getting at the crux of the dilemma. We don’t want to spend the money. Why should we when we could do it ourselves, albeit, slowly and maybe not perfectly and well, we might have to do it over too, but that’s ok, it’s free, it’s our time, our money…. OK enough already!!!
You will be amazed at how much more money you can make if you commit to delegating and outsourcing where it makes sense.
Here’s the thing, Nurse Joan had probably assisted in thousands and thousands of deliveries. She knew exactly what to do in the situation. She was a natural, a pro and an expert. She was able to step in and help me get what I wanted most, a beautiful new baby. When you hire an outside expert for your business, they can do in an hour what might take you a day, and do a far better job to boot.
If you want your business to grow, you are going to need to focus on what you do best. Yes, there will always be things you need to do that are not in your zone of genius, but those things should not take up hours and hours of the time. Your time should be spent leveraging the expertise and talents your clients most value in you so you can spend your time making more money.
I love to hear your voice!
What are you holding on to that you know you need to delegate?
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Heather Poduska is a brand strategist, business coach and opera singer who helps entrepreneurs and small business owners create client attractive brands, polished brand images and brand communication strategies to increase their visibility and impact in the marketplace and grow their businesses.
Thanks for the plug, Heather! From the outsourcer’s perspective here, I couldn’t agree more. And it’s true all down the line, because even though what I specialize in is virtual admin support, I still cannot accomplish all of the business of my company myself. Support is crucial and plays a very important part in all our success.
You are right Kate, support is crucial. And VA’s are a lot like nurses. They come in and do what needs to be done to the entrepreneurs connected to their life line!