Let me ask you a question. As a small business owner, how many times throughout the day do you tell yourself: “If you want something done right, do it yourself”? When you run a business, it can often feel like you have no option but to take on a mountain of tasks. However, taking on too much work in your business can prove to be a major distraction from the important job of growing the business.
What’s the difference between working in & on your business?
According to the below infographic, working IN your business refers to those day-to-day activities that could be easily entrusted to someone else. Working ON your business, on the other hand, is about developing growth strategies through activities such as planning, goal-setting, and process automation.
“If you want something done right, delegate it yourself.”
To survive and thrive in a competitive market, small businesses need visionary leadership, big-picture thinking, a solid management strategy, and top-level innovation.
As such, experts advise business-owners to spend around 20% of their time working on their business. In order to have the necessary time to focus on strategizing, smart leaders need to learn how to delegate non-critical tasks.
In fact, as the graphic shows, failure to work on their businesses is one of the main underlying reasons for business failure.
As Caterina Fake, the co-founder of Flickr, once aptly put it:
“So often people are working hard at the wrong thing. Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard.”
Learn how to strike the right balance
If you are feeling snowed under by your business, then maybe it’s time to learn how to establish the right balance between working in and on your business.
This helpful infographic from the business logistics experts at 2Flow includes a number of tips for business owners on how to define boundaries and delegate responsibilities in order to free up more time to drive your business into the future. It’s a strategic management choice that can make all the difference.