Well, Hello Blog. It's Great To Meet Again. Today's Topic? Why Delegating For Your Small Business is SUPER Important.

The last time I blogged was in December, which may not be a big deal to some of you but it's a very big deal for me.

I feel like a hypocrite. 

I mean, I consult small businesses on the importance of creating and communicating content yet, I haven't created any blog posts in almost two months. (Well, I did enter a contest via a writing entry and I won. You can read "Breakfast and Business: The Power Of My Potential" here).

WHY IS THIS THE CASE? 

Because I, too, am a small business owner. Actually, a solopreneur to be precise. And I've known for months now that I've needed extra hands in the form of interns and a virtual assistant yet I have not taken those steps for my business.

(This photo is from 2 years or so...not much has changed, except now I have an iPad in my arsenal, too)

Second WHY of the day coming right up.

WHY HAVE I POSTPONED obtaining extra help? Because delegating, as well as the preparation for delegating tasks, requires a whole other level of responsibility--one I've been shying away from with Jaclyn Mullen Media out of fear and a hesitancy to change my day to day operations.

RESPONSIBILITY. Most of us truly learned of this word when we got our drivers permits or babysat for the first time. One wrong turn of the wheel and we'd drive over a curb or hit a mailbox like I did once. One look away while watching little Jimmy John and he's out the door. Whatever the lesson was, it taught us that our actions have consequences, both good and bad. If you want less of the bad consequences, the premise was you had to increase your responsibility. Makes sense.

So, why is it that so many entrepreneurs (small business owners, solopreneurs and established business owners alike) postpone delegating tasks and put off the extra responsibility of helping hands?

What is the true fear around additional responsibilities?

Well, for one delegating tasks requires that the chief in charge has to stop and step back. YOU MEAN, HAULT THE MONEY MACHINE IN MOTION? Yes. And I for one have used this excuse along with many other business owners I've connected with. We're too busy servicing clients, looking for new business and tweeting and blogging to really map out a plan. RIGHT?

WRONG. No longer. Not for me. And hopefully not for you. With that said, today, we're going to focus on "How To Prepare For Delegating Tasks And Expanding Your Team."

1. It's likely that you are spending time on tasks that really don't generate the  most return for you as the owner.  Have you attended a networking event? Want to import all the contacts in a CRM and connect with them on Linkedin? Important, yes. But probably not the most effective use of your time as the owner/operator of your enterprise. Tasks like these are perfect for delegating to an intern or assistant. Data entry, filing, organizing, documenting.
2. Determine what tasks you should continue performing. Julie Lacouture from Mom Corps LA had this to say about delegating tasks to other employees/team members: "What is it that NO ONE ELSE CAN DO but you? Write these things down and be honest with yourself." Sending an email is one thing but closing sales deals or interfacing with the media--whatever your strengths may be--are the kind of tasks we're talking about here. AGAIN, what is it that you and only you can.....do. Now that you have a clear idea what you and only you can do, examine the other tasks you are performing that a team member can maintain. Spreadsheets of local networking events, prospects, emails, client services, appointment setting--someone else within your organization can assume these roles. 
3. Develop Job/Project Descriptions. What are the goals of your business? Your clients? How do your tasks fulfill those? One of the last things to do before you begin your talent/team search is creating a clear picture through job and project descriptions with regard to what each role entails. How frequently should client reports be generated, benchmarks be measured? What is the policy for time tracking? What type of authority do these individuals have, i.e must all final client and company communications be signed off on or does this team member have discretion? Compile guidelines and job descriptions to help manage expectations all across the board and ensure dynamic delegation! 

These are my tips (which I hope to implement). Of course, many more exist. If you have a delegation success story or strategy to share, please feel free to include it in the comments section below.

And if you haven't done so already, I invite you to connect with my growing community on Facebook where I try to keep you inspired, informed and interested. http://www.facebook.com/jaclynmullenmedia

It's back to work for the Jaclyn Of All Trades. Here's to being bitten by the blogging bug, once again. I'll surely never delegate that!

Lost As An Employee; Found As An Entrepreneur

If you would have shown me a magic crystal ball precisely one year ago and told me that 2011 would be one of the happiest, most successful years of my life, I’d have laughed in your face and seriously questioned your sanity. (Especially if you looked like the lady in this picture).

You see, precisely one year ago, I was clutching Kleenex, nursing a broken heart, weeping like a baby not to mention completely lost career wise. I had not even launched my website or consulting business, Jaclyn Mullen Media. I had no plan, I had no path--all I had was a merciless inner critic, buckets of tears and somewhere beneath that, a strong faith that I’d figure out why it all was happening. 

How about you? Have you taken time to examine your past year? How did it start out? How is it ending? What have been the greatest lessons you've learned along the way? 

As I flash forward to nearly one year later of being self employed, working on a ton of great projects with clients I care about as well as scoring serious professional accomplishments (including moments of giving back to society) matched with new friends and even a whole new relationship with myself, I know my life isn't perfect or all that I’d envision it to be.....yet. But it is progressing and that’s what counts. 

Organized chaos. Lost as an employee yet found as an entrepreneur. Learning to find contentment in imperfection. Do you measure perfection or progression in your life? Why does this even matter? 

I was lost for most of my twenties but I was especially lost last December. Who am I kidding, everyday I am lost but rather than running away from the unknown, rather than running away from the lack of answers, I now embrace uncertainty and use it to challenge myself as an individual and entrepreneur. It wasn’t until my "success and spiritual open heart surgery” as I like to call it (the bad breakup and walking away from my stable salary), that I finally realized my mortality and  allowed myself to truly operate one day at a time. These days, I ask myself “What would Steve Jobs do? Would he be afraid, would he stay stuck? Would he not take a chance?”

I share this with you because it’s important to remember that we really have no clue what the future holds for us. As Steve Jobs even said himself “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something—your gut, your destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down and it has made all the difference in my life.”

Uncertainty. The next time you face it, embrace it. Step into the unknown, dive in with a little faith and trust that the answers will be revealed to you along the way. There was uncertainty for me surrounding why I chose this topic to blog about today. It’s been too long since I last posted and that will change in 2012. Perhaps, like everyone else, I just needed a friendly reminder to step into uncertainty and embrace the many unknown adventures that 2012 will surely bring.

And if that is the case, cheers to entrepreneurship, cheers to one year anniversaries of uncertainty and most importantly, cheers to what "finds" you too!

Do you have a lost and found story to share? Post it in the comments section below.

Listen Up Ladies (Best Advice For Female Entrepreneurs)

Last week WomenCentric.net posed a question via Twitter---"Women in business, what is your best advice?" 

Initially I wanted to reply right away with an answer like "work-life balance" or "setting a consistent weekly schedule to ensure structure and organization." And while those answers are credible, the more I thought about it, the more my tip for women business owners became crystal clear. Support, support, support one another and celebrate every success, no matter how big or small.

Support, BOTH ourselves and fellow shero entrepreneurs.

Out of all the available advice, why chose this as my answer? The justification is simple. There is no need to compete with one another nor crucify ourselves when the fruits of our business labor may take longer to grow than we had hoped. When we see those around us experiencing grand success, we need to stop running on the hamster wheel and take a moment to recognize their accomplishments and our own success as well.

It's a great time for women in business! Many of us are launching companies alongside our friends or mentors. Some women experience magnetic client or media attraction and profitability right out of the gate while others really earn their sweat equity and ROP (return on patience). Not everyone has the same resources or target market, klout or connections. So the next time you read about a rockstar female entrepreneur, don't start the "I'm never going to get there, maybe I should just give up" or "Good for Jane but I see how long that's going to last. There's going to be a bottleneck in her ability to scale." Instead, send some support, good vibes and thoughts of appreciation with regard to all that you can learn from a trailblazer. Then, pat yourself on the back for your hard work and increase your deposits of patience.

Personally, I received the best reinforcement of this ideology this past summer while I participated in a tele-seminar led by Tory Johnson. As Tory recapped some words of "womenpreneur wisdom", she shared that one woman had approached her recently and stated "My overnight success took me ten years." I nearly cried after hearing about this particular woman's willingness to commit to success while patiently waiting ten years for it to pay off.

So I leave you with this. As women in business, we don't know how long or where our journeys may lead yet one thing is certain. There will be a lot of naysayers or people who just don't get our commitments to self employment success along the way. So the best thing you can do is really, truly, meaningfully support one another. Publicly praise those paving the way for your shining moment, practice patience with yourself and your results. Most importantly, enjoy the evolution of your character along the way.

That's my best business advice. What's yours?

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