Delegating Your Taxing Tasks

“I wish they made days that had more than 24 hours in them so I can get all of this done.” If you find yourself saying this too often, it may be time to delegate some of the responsibility for running your business. Though it’s tempting to want to keep your finger on the pulse of every little detail, it becomes more and more difficult as the business grows. If you haven’t seen the recent movie, The Intern, with Anne Hathaway and Robert DeNiro, check it out as an example.

Trying to be everything to everyone can leave you unfocused. You may end up forgetting deadlines or glossing over details because you have so many other things on your plate. You may even be forced to re-do some of your work, adding another job to your ever-growing list. By assigning less executive-level or more routine tasks to others, you free up more time to use on the core aspects of your business. 

Delegating enables you to concentrate on what you’re good at. For example, if you are a people person instead of a numbers person, use your time to concentrate on attracting more clients and retaining them, instead of struggling to figure out your taxes. Let your accountant do that.

Depending on what type of business you’re in, here are some of the tasks that you may be able to delegate:

• Social Media.  It’s a great way to get your name out there and connect with your audience, but it can easily suck up far more of your time than you planned on. 
• Bookkeeping.  As your business grows, that Excel spreadsheet or QuickBooks application can become unwieldy, especially if you have payroll to worry about.
• Research.  Even with the Internet, researching facts and statistics and then cross-checking them can be tedious.
• Website Design and Maintenance.  Your website is a critical part of your business marketing, and is often the first thing a potential customer sees. Unless you’re thoroughly familiar with making websites, this is a task you should leave to those with the skill and expertise to make it look good.
• Legal tasks.  You may need to set up an LLC, create contracts or set up privacy policies to meet modern legal standards. Like website design, these are tasks best left to the professionals.
• Errands.  It goes without saying that most of the time there are more important things for you to be doing than running off to purchase pens and toner.

Delegating smaller tasks can help you save your focus for the bigger ones. It can also help you save time for other equally important things like your family and your personal relationships. You can boost your productivity, generate more revenue and improve your quality of life — a win-win situation for you and for your business.