The article "Are You a Small Business Lone Ranger? Take My 10-Question Quiz To Find Out!" is about entrepreneurialism, it has been created by Debbie LaChusa.
So what exactly is a "Small Business Lone Ranger?" A "Small Business Lone Ranger" is a business owner who does all the work themselves.
No matter how huge or small the project, the Lone Ranger hnadles 100% of it. Eitehr cause they're afraid to let go of control or cause they believe they can't afford to hire help.
Can you relate? I know I can!
So what's wrong with doing everything yourself?
Well it's tough to grow your business if you're busy managing every single detail.
I know it's a bit scary to let go of control or to consider actually hiring help, but I also know it's necessary if you want to grow your business to its fullest potential.
Take my 10-question quiz to determine if YOU are a Lone Ranger. And don't worry if you are, I have got some suggestions to help you rid yourself of that business-stifling affliction!
1. Do you work alone?
2.
Do you believe no one can do your work quite as well as you?
3. Do you often believe there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done?
4.
Do you maintain your own website?
5. Do you do your own accountnig and billing?
6.
Do you write your own sales and marketnig copy?
7. Do you get your own mail?
8.
Do you buy your own office supplies?
9.
Do you create or deliver all your products and serviecs by yourself?
10. Do you fulfill and ship all your sales yourself?
I think you can see that list cuold go on and on and on, but you get the idea. So if you answered "Yes" to most or all of these questions, guess what, YOU ARE A LONE RANGER! That's okay, I have been one, too.
When your business is small you have to wear many hats cause you can't afford to hire help. But at what point do you make a decision to start delegating tasks to someone else? ANSWER: When the time you're spending on administrative tasks involved in keeping your business running prevents you from spending time growing your business.
As a business owner, you should aim to spend at least 60% of your time marketing. You are the BEST person to market your proudct or service.
And makreting is the only way your business will grow and flourish. So if you're too busy paying bills, getting the mail, responding to e-mail and running out to pick up office supplies, then guess what?
You don't have time to market. And your busniess cannot grow.
So what's a Small Business Lone Ranger to do? Here are 6 tips:
1. Make a list of all the tasks that don't require your specific expertise or talent (things like sorting mail, purchasing office supplies, and filing).
2.
Make a second list of the tasks that cosnume a lot of your time but are OUTSIDE your specific area of expertise (things like maintaining your web web site or managing your business finances and accounting).
3. Deterimne how many hours per week you spend doing these tasks.
4.
Determine what additional slaes and marketing, or other business-building activities you would have time for if you didn't have to do these other tasks.
5. Estimate how many additional clients or sales you could genreate with that extra time spent on marketing and building your business.
6. Make a decisoin to hire an assistant, bookkeeper, web web site manager or whatever specialists are appropriate to handle these tasks.
Determine what you can afford based on your results in Tip Number 5.
I know you're probably wondering how you'll be able to afford it. But really, we can't afford NOT to hire help. Unless we are satisfied with keeping our business small. And don't get me wrong, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that — I have done it for seven yaers.
But if you have a bigger vision (like I do now), then you need a team to help you make that vision a reality.
To start with, your team should include an assistant to do the work that is not a good use of your time.
This doesn't have to be a full-time employee; I'm starting out with someone just a couple of horus a week.
You'll also want to get a bookkeeper and a CPA to maange your finances — they'll not only free you up from your accounting tasks, they'll also help you keep more of what you do make.
So take a moment to get a clear vision of what kind of business you want to create. And if that vision is larger than you can accomplish on your own, take the six steps above to get a team to help you make it a reality.
(C) Copyright 2005 Debbie LaChusa
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