Welcome back! This is part two of our five-week series aimed at helping you reignite your print business.
Last week, you learned the importance of knowing where you are in order to understand where you’re going and how website analytics can help you achieve your goals.
This week, you’ll unpack one of the biggest reasons why company progress can stall out: the “I can do it all myself” mindset.
Ready to get started?
You see, there’s this idea in business that you must be able to do it all to be great. And, if you’re thinking, “Yeah, but that’s not me,” try reading the statements below to see if you’ve ever had similar thoughts.
- “If it’s going to get done right and on time, I’d better do it myself.”
- “By the time I try and explain it to someone else, I could just as easily do it myself.”
- “They have so much on their plate already; I don’t want to bother them. I’ll just do it myself this time.”
Yep. Been there; done that, right?
While some might read these statements and take them as badges of honor, it’s essential to look at how damaging the “do it yourself” mindset can be and what it costs your print business.
The High Cost of Not Delegating
Not delegating equals tired printing companies and printing company owners. See for yourself.
Tired printing companies = tired performance
Trying to be all things to all people doesn’t make sense and puts you on the path to being worn out.
It’s human nature to struggle with the things you dislike, aren’t good at, or aren’t profitable. So why spend your time and effort there? Instead, delegate these things so you can focus on your bigger goal – satisfying the clients you have now and selling more printing.
Tired print owners = tired employees
The heartbeat of a business lies with the leader.
If you, as the print owner, the print leader, get worn out, it becomes much easier to neglect the challenging work of creating a great team that serves your clients well. Remember that you’re saying no to something else with everything you say yes to; sometimes, that no is your peace of mind.
Delegating appropriately can help you and your business become better all around. Besides, when you’re overworked and burned out, your passion goes with it. And, passionless leaders rarely produce passionate followers.
Tired print companies = tired decisions
The more you decide to take on and try to do yourself, the more you’ll start to make band-aid decisions that only get you by for a season.
Trying to bear the weight alone sets you up to lose the strength needed to make the more challenging, growth-minded decisions and instead causes you to fall into the groove of what’s easiest. Leave yourself enough margin to make the difficult yet better decisions by delegating what you can.
Delegate and Elevate
If you’re bogged down with routine tasks, you don’t trust your employees or vendors, or your important tasks aren’t getting done, it’s time to delegate and elevate.
The Delegate and Elevate tool from the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)™ is a great way to see if what you and your company are doing are the things that you love and are good at.
This simple, four-quadrant worksheet has you list everything you do and then divide it into four categories: things you love doing and are great at, things you like doing and are good at, those you don’t like doing but are good at, and finally, those things you both don’t like doing, and you’re not good at.
Once you have everything listed, make it your mission to delegate everything in the don’t like/not good at section. You might outsource it to a vendor, hire an independent contractor, or stop doing it altogether.
Solutions for Delegating Your Marketing
If your website, direct mail, or social media marketing have landed in your don’t like/not good at section, we can help!
Not only can you get subscription services to make this reliably easy, but you can now also take advantage of Enhanced Marketing Services, where you can delegate both your social media marketing posting and the logo and company information placement on your direct mail subscription files to us. It’s a complete, excuse-free way to get your marketing done and stop yourself from drowning in to-dos.
“If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself.
If you want to do great things and make a big impact, learn to delegate.”
– John C. Maxwell
