Delegating Tasks

Delegating tasks: Where do we start?, Whom do we trust? How do we do it? Delegating may sound simple, but when it comes down to doing, it proves to be complicated.  Have you ever been asked, “Why don’t you just delegate it to someone else?” as if we didn’t realize this was an option and just love doing all the work ourselves. We all know this is far from the truth.

This week I met up with an Apple Certified Mac Expert, Peter. Peter is my go-to Mac expert who also has become a friend.  This time he called me because he needed some business advice; he is buried in work and wanted to learn how to delegate.  Since I happen to oversee a staff of 40, he knew I was well seasoned at delegating responsibilities.

Peter’s primary business is to help families as well as small businesses troubleshoot their Apple products.  His business ranges from giving a recommendation on which Mac to purchase all the way to solving complex networking issues. Currently, he is a one-man-band.  His office is in his home and he travels to his customers charging a competitive rate of $150/hour.  His business is built on his charisma and added value to his customers.  Peter’s business is doing so well that he has no time for himself anymore.  During the day he is busy on the road, traveling to his clients.  At night, he locks himself up in his home office to invoice customers, and conduct research on issues he needs to troubleshoot for his clients. 

We had lunch one nice afternoon in Brooklyn, NY, to discuss what tasks he could delegate so that he can have a balanced life and grow his business.  I started off by hearing him out; I wanted to know what his struggles were and what he was planning on doing to alleviate his stress.

He thought about hiring staff that could replace him in the field.  Peter thought about running the backend of his business; such as, scheduling appointments, issuing invoices, and conducting research from the comfort of his home.

I mulled that over for a moment and realized, if he did that, he would give away his competitive advantage.  As mentioned before, his business is built on his charisma.  If he is not having face-time with his customers, that which made his business great would disappear.  I advised him to flip the roles.  He should start by hiring someone to do the backend, and he should continue making personal visits to his customers.  This way, Peter will do what he loves most, meeting customers and working on their Macs.  More importantly, he will keep his competitive advantage intact. 

You might be wondering if Peter continues making personal visits to his customers, how can he grow his business?  After all, he doesn’t generate revenue from invoicing and conducting research at home.  Fees are incurred from his customers when he is at his client’s location.  However, growing a business is a different topic.  Here in this article, my goal is to show that Peter should not get rid of the core of the success of his business, but instead delegate the less important tasks that would alleviate his stress.

Please let me know what you think.  Should Peter hire people to run his operation and take the backseat?  Also, please share with us some of the tasks you’re having trouble finding help for.

You're Fired!

“You’re Fired!”  Never pleasant words to hear; and not a pleasant moment for the boss nor the employee. Nevertheless, sometimes it has to be done.  As a young entrepreneur, this is actually one of the most difficult tasks for me to tackle.  How do I tell someone that they’re not of use to me and that I do not want to see them again?  That might not really be what I think of the person, but when I’m using the words “You’re fired,” it is exactly what my employee is hearing.

I have fired a countless number of people since I started running my business. And it is never easy and I always second guess myself.  Is it the right decision?  What if he has his side of the story?  Maybe something is happening at his home that is affecting his work performance. A ton of “What ifs,” and “Maybes” fly through my head before I actually drop the axe.

Just about a week ago, I had to let go of someone who I considered a friend.  We used to have wine together on a weekly basis. It was extremely hard for me to make the decision to fire her. She was an hourly employee, and she decided to milk the clock by arriving an hour and a half earlier and leaving work forty minutes later than scheduled. I wouldn’t have had a problem with this if she could have shown me she was also producing more.  To the contrary, she had been producing even less with the extended hours.   I could see she was clearly taking advantage of my company -- I had to let her go.

With some experience, I have come to realize that there is one sure test of whether or not I should fire someone.  It is all premised on trust.  I ask myself, “Do I trust this person?”  If the answer is “Maybe” or “No,” then I simply let that person go.