Isn’t it funny how when it comes to our business, we always feel the need to do everything ourselves. The constant excuses given for this type of behavior is, ‘ But no one can do it as well as I can.‘ or ‘If I do it, then I know it will be done right.’
While this may be the case in a few situations, the majority of the time you are doing yourself (and your business) a dis-services by having to do everything – all the time!
3 Ways Your ‘I Will Do It’ Attitude is Ruining Your Business!
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It Gives Small Tasks Priority
As a small business owner your focus needs to be on delivering the best results for your customers. If you are babying your employees (or currently still a one person show), you are not able to give your full attention to customer satisfaction. Each small task that you take on, shifts your focus from running your business to working in your business.
And with all your time taken up in doing these small tasks (and let’s face it, anyone can do them - stop needing to be needed!), you are limiting the time that you can spend on developing your business and where you see it heading.
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It Shuts Down Creativity and Excellence
Each time you take over a task that you do not have an expertise in, you are creating an ‘atmosphere of average’. By saying, ‘I will do it’ to things that you really can’t do great, you are letting your staff and customers know that you are willing to settle for second best.
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It Destroys Growth
And what happens when you get that big job that you pitched for, or you get a sudden influx of new customers? Do you decide to start work earlier and finish later (longer days means more work done), or do you begin rejecting customers because you can’t handle the workload (and ‘no one can do it as well as you!’).
The problem with this mentality is that you become the star of your business, and while this may be good for your ego – it makes terrible business sense. If you are your business, what happens when it comes time to move on? You will never be able to sell it (well at least not for a decent amount), because you can’t really sell yourself with your business. AND you could never expand your business, because where would you find the time to look over 10 people shoulders at the same time.
What I am trying to get at is YOU CAN’T DO IT ALL!
And once you start to understand this, you will realize how liberating that statement really is.
Doing everything yourself can become so tiring, so let me throw you a rope by saying ‘Let someone else do it!’
I know it will be hard at first and your mind will fight you the whole way, but once you start letting other people do your work you will come to realize:
- Other People Can Do Things Better Than You
- Other People Can Work Faster Than You
- Other People Can Work Cheaper Than You
Don’t Stop Doing Everything Straight Away
This would definitely be overload!
What I would suggest is to start outsourcing little, simple jobs and wean yourself away from needing to do everything. Slowly, as you become more comfortable transfer more of your work to other workers and free up your time to focus on leading your business into a successful future!
