There is a process to delegating effectively and that process begins with creating systems for your business. Systems will help you gain clarity in your business model and successful delegating begins when you know what you need to delegate. A system is what, how and when things are done in your business. There are four main areas of your business and they are operations, finances, marketing/sales, and customer service. You should have systems in place for each of these areas. Below are three ways that you can begin to create systems for your business.
What do you need to do?
The first step is to decide what will actually need to be done in each area. What will need to be done in regard to your business finances? For example, most businesses will need to record expenses, keep track of sales and profits as well as pay taxes. For marketing, you will need to get the attention of your target market and close sales. What needs to be done to ensure that customers are happy with your products and services? For operations, what needs to be done to service clients and customers?
How will it be done?
You will need to know how you will handle each of the four key areas. You should determine how your bookkeeping and taxes will be done. Will you set everything up in a software program? How will your marketing and sales be handled – will you attend networking events and utilize social media? How will you go about addressing the needs of your customers – will you send out surveys? How will you go about servicing your clients?
When will it get done?
You will need to determine when you will do your operations, marketing/sales, finances, and customer service. For example, you will do your bookkeeping on the fourth Thursday of each month. Your social media marketing will be done Monday thru Friday and posts will go out at 10:30 a.m. You will send out a customer survey on Wednesday of each week. Your set work hours will be 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. and this is when you will do client work. These are examples of when you will do the things that are required to keep your business afloat.
Once you get the what, how and when of how each area of your business will be handled, you’re on your way to becoming a delegating master. Having systems in place for your business will enable you to be able to see exactly how and what needs to be done in your business. This in turn also allows you to see what areas you can delegate to someone else and delegating is the key to growing your business. So, take some time to look at each key area of your company and put systems in place to help move your business forward.
