Ask a Mentor: What aspect of business should I focus on?

Question:

“Looking at my business and all the hats I wear, juggle and manage, what should I (wear) focus on and do really well? What should I do with all the other hats?”

Answer from Mentor Megan Tough: Great question Kate. There is more than one answer, depending on the stage your business is at, your long term goals and your role in the business. This is about getting a team around you that you can trust. Whether you employ them, contract someone to come in x times per week, or outsource – you need to establish this team so you can start removing some of the hats.   Which hat(s) should you focus on? First – decide where you add the most value in the business. Is it in actual sales and business development? Is it in delivery of your product or service? Is it as true CEO where you focus on future direction and longer term growth while other people look after the day to day? Then think about your personal strengths. Do they match up with where you add the most value? Hopefully yes, so there is a clear benefit in you performing this high value-add activity (because you are best placed to do it). This is where you should be spending your time, once you have decided how to manage the other hats. Don’t just stop wearing the other hats immediately or something will fall through the cracks. If you wear the same kinds of hats as other businesses, you might be involved in: Administration, technology/IT, marketing, business development, distribution/delivery, service.

In my view, the two hats you can take off most easily are administration and technology.

After that, potentially marketing and distribution are easiest to remove.   Administration Hat First of all, no matter how easy it is for you, doing your own administration is not value adding work. It sucks up time – time that could be better spent wearing other hats. And it doesn’t bring any revenue into the business. This is your number one activity to outsource. Stop spending time doing things like mail, email, filing, bookkeeping etc. It might force you to establish some solid procedures but this should be first on your outsource list.   IT/Technology Nothing takes up more time than fooling around with technology when we aren’t specialists. The money you spend on hiring someone to support your IT/Network/Website is totally worth it. When you work out what your time is worth (and you are probably undervaluing it) you’ll find you are saving time and money.   Marketing Get someone to help you with a solid marketing plan and strategy. Find a designer you like and trust and can communicate with virtually to save time.   Delivery/Distribution If you are the prime deliverer of service, it’s time to document what you do and find other people to deliver it. It’s hard to expand beyond one person when you have to provide the service yourself. If your business is in start-up phase and your funds are limited, you may be financially constrained in some respects. To submit a question to Ask a Mentor, please email us your question.