Chapter 3
Success
“‘Success is what you make of it,” was the message that came across loud and clear from our survey respondents.
“Knowing that my customers need my products and love my service,” is how one summed up their view of success. “Providing good service to clients and good working conditions to employees,” said another.
When things start going well, decisions need to be made between exploiting opportunities for expansion, or keeping the ship stable and steady to grow a stronger base.
There’s a risk in, as one of those we spoke to said, “expanding too quickly and diversifying away from core business.”
Success also offers opportunities to bring others onboard, delegate, and to work on your business, not in it. These periods of broadening horizons can be extra busy, requiring a careful balance between professional and personal life.
Download full PDFAsk yourself
- Are you keen to expand or is now the time to just stay the course?
- Are you delegating efficiently at every opportunity?
- Do you have enough people on your team?
- Where are there organisational gaps that need to be filled?
- Who do you want to bring on board to fill them?
- Are you nurturing your personal life as well as you should?
- How can you better give yourself time outside of business?
Tools to drive delegation
If you overload yourself and refuse to take the time for a life outside your work, the only thing you’ll be successful at is burning out.
Becoming effective at delegating tasks and roles to others is key during busy, successful periods. Handing over admin or other low-hanging fruit means you’ll have the time to work on your business as a whole, not in the details. There are effective techniques for mastering productivity, determining which activities you’re doing are important and which ones aren’t.
Know your priorities
Try to categorise each task required into one of four categories: those that are important and need to be done now; those that have to happen ASAP but aren’t as critical; salient tasks that don’t have to happen straight away; and those that don’t matter so much and can be left until later.
Track your time
Start tracking your hours and minutes per task and discover if your ideal time per activity matches your reality. The idea is to get a clear picture of where you’re at so that you can make the changes needed to reach your ideal state.
Know what to delegate
Based on your findings, decide which activities to dedicate more time to and which to step away from. Then select others to delegate them to. The aim is to choose carefully, give clear instructions and support only when necessary. If you’ve hired competent and confident staff, you won’t need to look over their shoulders all the time.
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