Things I Have No Problem Delegating / Putting on Auto

There are so many things in my business I started out doing alone. I know you're reading this and already making a mental list of all you do. Well, grab a piece of paper and write it down. I found myself thinking early on "wait, I have to remember to pay rent, bills, buy supplies, call clients, post on social media AND turn around and do some of these things at home, too?" It's not a clock in and out kind of gig and comes with a lot of responsibility and managing. 

When I first started renting a room, I was only in charge of making sure I didn't run out of lashes (and I still did LOL) Then when I moved to getting my own studio, I had to remember when to stock up on supplies, order more toilet paper for the bathrooms, new lash supplies, pay the rent, update the inside, remember hand soap and then turn around and do the same at home. So basically I was/am responsible for making sure two “homes” are stocked and running smoothly at all times. As a small business owner or Independent Contractor there are tons of things you have to take care of for your business and also at home. HOW are we supposed to stay on top of all of it? How can we be expected to keep track of everything? You can't and the quicker you delegate the better. If you're in a relationship: do this now and they will thank you later for not being a crazy person.  

 It's so important to learn early on to be able to accept help and know how and when to ask for it. I realized 3 or 4 years into my business that I just couldn’t physically do it all and I was spreading myself too thin. I worked in my lash room 5 days a week then managed the behind the scenes of my business, tracked inventory, re ordered product, ran the website, social media plus more. I felt truly drained. I couldn't shut off my brain and I felt like I was always bleeding into the next day. I could not keep up.

Once I started the podcast and put more energy into connecting/ speaking engagements and meeting more of you I realized more than ever that I wanted to do more of that and that I needed help.  I was constantly switching gears in my head, running around very stressed and quite honestly just frazzled. There were a ton of mental breakdowns and I didn’t like how was I was managing my schedule. It began to take over my life.

 Ive learned that if you want to find any sort of balance (which BTW...it doesn’t exist) for your life and you want to scale your business and actually let it grow (and also create a happy home) OR if you just want more free time...you need to find out where you can hire out help.

Of course there are lots of things that need to be done specifically by you, but when you sit down and really look at your business/ home and break down how things are run; where can you learn to accept some help?

For me this started with hiring out these tasks:

+Customer emails

+Packaging orders

+Cleaning my home & studio

+Food deliveries 

+Inventory 

+Taxes 

If you sell retail consistently and want to start online; I really suggest hiring someone one day a week to completely take this over. I know it can feel risky and it is an extra expense BUT you can actually break even and eventually make more money having someone who is responsible for this. This opens up more time for you to expand or just take more clients OR have a day off. (It's not always about money; its about quality of life)

If you don't enjoy social media and you're just not good at it; find someone who can help you even very part time. It will eliminate the stress of having to do something that maybe you just aren't good at. Taking clients is a job and social media is a job and you really can't expect to do both really well.  

If you look at the list above you'll notice there’s nothing creative about it and that’s why I’ve taken it off my plate. If it’s not designing, marketing and social media creativity writing or meeting you; I’ve removed it from my job responsibilities. This allows me to create more, decorate more, come up with new products and designs which is what I LOVE and when I’m only focused on this I actually feel I can give more; be more and make more $$. Plus ...i'm just a nicer human. 

Think about the parts of your business you LOVE then think about the parts you just don't. See what you can eliminate in order to be happier. Make a list and keep it handy. 

Besides delegating things that don't work for me, I’ve also set up most things in life to be on auto pay or reoccurring deliveries. (This is a great place to start before hiring) Anything that is automated you don't need to think about. Amazon subscriptions are a great place to start. I try to put anything "consumable" on subscription because I will inherently run out sooner rather than later. So I set up a subscription that auto renews based on how often I will need a delivery, once a month, every 3 months etc. This means all these items are being delivered to me and I do not have to think about it. *it also keeps me from buying bullsh*t I don’t need because you know Amazon can be a dark hole that takes your money quick. The more I can avoid being on their site the better ! 

What do I have on auto?

+Toilet paper

+Paper towels

+Trash bags

+GoMacro Mini bars

+Collagen

+Coffee

+Vitamins 

+Some food

Personally I want to cut out anything that;

+takes away from my time being creative

+limits my ability to scale my business

+isn't required to be done by me and me alone

So, how do you know where you and your business fit in? Trust me. You’ll know. You will have to begin organizing your day to day operations so you can really see what's ahead of you. Then you need to figure out if you can afford help. When I hired Hailey, I was scared. How could I pay someone else and take that on? I didn't know if I could afford it either. I started with having her just package orders 2 days. week then had her take over emails and I have to tell you; it saved my life.

If you're ready to get help, be prepared to give up control. If you aren't quite there yet, at least start with auto-pay and start thinking about what you would need help with and how you can make that happen. 

Here's a quick example:

One lash client a week at $100 could pay someone for 5 hours of work a week for you. You get to enjoy taking a client and the crap you hate doing is being worked on by someone else. To me, its a huge WIN. 

I'd love to help you with your business. I offer coaching for this where we get into detail about your struggles or answer questions you may have. For coaching with me click HERE

Also, if you haven't already, listen to Beauty Biz Bff's podcast #8 Delegate to Elevate for more tips and advice.