"No One Can Do What I Do." I Call BS!

I have heard many clients and other business owners complain about their long days, and their inability to grow or let go. Everything relies on them to be at the centre of their business, controlling the start, the implementation, the management, and the delivery of ever aspect of their businesses.

Their belief systems are often around these ideas.

• They know they need more help but they cannot find good people to do the work.
• They are the only reason their clients come to them.
• They are an expert and the only one that can do what they do.

I call BS. There are some truths to these statements; for instance, if they are a professional speaker, actor, or writer, they are the product. But, there is more to business than just delivering a talk, being an advisor, or editing client's work. Business owners are responsible for all aspects of the business. If they want to grow and let go, they need to change this.

For instance: I know that the editing industry has an assessment that ranks editors by their level of correctness. The average good editor finds 95% of the editing mistakes. I know one that gets 99.9% correct. In a 50,000-word book, this is the difference between 2500 mistakes missed and 250 mistakes missed. This is a huge difference in competency. How does a business owner sell their services when the difference between their work and someone else's work could result in such a different experience for the client?

If you are wondering this too, then here are three problem-solving ideas you can use to help you make this change and let go of the controls, so your business can grow.

Systems & Training

First, it is impossible to have exceptional people working for you if everything you expect them to do is stored in your head. If you want exceptional workers, you need to have an exceptional intake system that trains them in the expectation you have for them.

• Have an intake process so you know what you want to do when they start.
• Have written documents to explain all the aspects of what you expect them to do.
• Set clear goals and expectations.
• Monitor, praise, and adjust.

Note - If you want to create a remarkable and repeatable experience for your clients then you, and your team, have to have easily repeatable processes to follow.

Let Go of Your 'Perfect Way'

When we hire people we start by telling them what we want and how we want it; our "perfect way" to do things. If we have hired the right person then we must recognize that there are different ways to get to the same result and some people will do it differently. Fill your business with employees and contractors that look for the loose ends, see the competitive advantages, and are interested in making their work even better. To do this you have to let them make changes and that means you have to let them make mistakes.

Create a culture that gives autonomy to people in their jobs and a monitoring system that ensures you know what is going on. This way they can bring ideas and make changes that are in alignment with the values and growth of the business.

Who Else?

Yes, you are an expert in your business with your many years of experience doing what you do. Your clients love you and when they call for support, they expect you. So how would it be possible to let go of the control you have over your key role?

In the example I gave above, about the exceptional editor, there were options available that they had not thought of. These will work for you too.

• Increase the price of working with you, as the owner and the except. This is now a specific product that the business sells. If someone insists on working with you, the owner, it will cost them more.
• Create your main product that is peopled by other experts you hire. Make sure you have the good systems we talked about above, to hire and train them. Get them up to speed, then watch them do the work you thought only you could do.
• Make a list of all the roles and responsibilities in your business and put your name to the roles only you should be responsible for (e.g. being the product of the 'high-end' sale) and start looking for ways to let go of the rest. Look for automation, offloading to people that already work for your, or hiring others to manage it.

Again. this only works if you have systems and training in place.

GUESS WHAT??This increases the value of your business and if you are hoping to sell your business?in the future, you have just put the system into place to make that more easily happen.

This article is 100% original content - The articles read on this blog have all been 100% generated by Barb Stuhlemmer, not by AI.