Go and take a vacation. Enjoy a week off from work. Don’t worry about your business, it can run without you. The only reason this is not happening yet is you feel too necessary. Don’t you want to go on a vacation, at ease that your business is running fine, or even great, without you?
The best way to make this happen is empowering your employees. Let them know that being ”okay” is not a bad thing. It just slows them down them from being the “best”. Encourage them to make an impact and motivate them to greatness. With your team well motivated and empowered, you can start delegating and training the right people.
Here are three more ways to make your business run without you.
1. Discover the Power of Apps
From a time-tracking app to a tool that streamlines team onboarding, there’s an app for everything. In this age where technology is beyond us, it’s just a matter of finding the right tools that will help you run your business more efficiently.
Devart, developer of Tmetric Time Tracker, shares, “Productivity tools empower businesses of any size and help their employees to stay focused and become the best at what they do. There are even free apps that team leaders or business owners manage their team members or employees, projects and productivity, even if they’re new in the digital world.”
2. Teach Your Team How to Fish
As the popular quote, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach that man how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”
You hired your team for a reason. Unless you hired the wrong people, you shouldn’t be hovering too much or answering questions. Let each team member do his or her specific role. Teach them what to do then let them take over.
When you’re always there to the rescue, your employees will feel less motivated and empowered. Trust their decisions, but set the bar high. And if they fail, it’s when you see which team members are stepping in and taking action.
3. Let Mistakes Happen
When you empower your team, mistakes and problems are expected. These challenges should be embraced instead of looking at them as a disaster. You have to be friends with failure. Failure only becomes failure if you let it stop you.
Create a work culture where mistakes don’t define a person, but make sure your employees are accountable for them. Sometimes you have to fail to make it work.
Follow these strategies and soon you will be able to step away from your small business. It’s not easy to just walk out and leave something very important to you. But when you step back, you can see the fruits of your labor — a well-oiled machine that can run without you.
Learn More
Are you taking advantage of Small Business BC’s wide selection of seminars for entrepreneurs and small to medium-sized business owners? Space is limited, so don’t miss your chance to register today.
And if you want specific questions answered for your business, make an appointment to meet with a Small Business BC Business Advisor or Small Business BC Business Plan Advisor now.