Due to the demand of most businesses, the employer is usually always present to keep things in place and make sure everything runs smoothly, but this isn’t always a good thing.
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Being stuck in the same place, doing the same things just limits your capacity to satisfy your customers, because your time can be channelled for something else that contributes to your business growth. It is either you are working for your business or your business is working for you.
Every effective business should get to the point of the latter. I know it gets challenging to be absent from the day to day operations of your company or business while still ensuring it runs perfectly but for what it’s worth, you should be able to take time off knowing that everything isn’t going to come crashing down in your absence. Here are a few steps to help you out:
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Visualise
It is important to learn to visualize. Visualizing helps you set up the right structure to get your business where it should be and know what things need to be put in place for the business to be able to thrive on its own. This also entails identifying your true goals in the process. Your business becomes more scalable when it is able to stand on its own.
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Create a working system for your business
A system saves you stress, time, energy and money. If anything is done more than once, a system can be created for it. From where files are stored, to weekly meetings, to how products are delivered. Creating a working system means you need to think differently, it means choosing best practices that bring the results you need and then finding ways to break down these practices into processes that make reproducing the same results possible.
A business that runs itself is an investment itself. If a key player leaves a company, as much as possible, the shift in energy and responsibilities shouldn’t be so obvious. Creating a working system can be done by taking steps such as training employees and establishing a chain of command in your absence.
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Learn to delegate
Don’t try to do it all by yourself, learn to trust that the work can be carried out by someone else that isn’t you. Practice doing this often, because it also helps your employees step up their game, knowing full well that you have some level of trust in them, they would not want to disappoint. As time goes on, the leaders on your team can use this same method to pass on tasks. In cases where you need to travel or be absent for a while, your capabilities and skills do not have to go with you, learn to intentionally train your employees to run your business without you. As you delegate, do not forget to provide your staff with any information or manuals they would need to carry out specific tasks.
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Listen to your staff
It is important to give room to your staff for sharing their opinions and bringing new ideas to the table. Your staff may have new problem-solving ideas that you have never thought of. Employees also want to be heard and when their ideas are considered, it encourages them to do better. Everyone wants to have their impact felt in a company. Listening to your staff also helps you see potential in your staff and makes it easier to delegate responsibilities to them.
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Step Away
Finally, learn to step away. You might have to do this for no reason sometimes, just to test run and see how things are handled in your absence, and watch out for possible mistakes. It might be stressful to do this, but having smart and responsible staff, well oriented with the business goals and patterns, would make sure things much easier.
Featured Image Source: Forbes
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