As a business owner who serves other small businesses, I’ve come to appreciate the power and importance of learning how to delegate. Not only have I needed to outsource things myself, but a large proportion of my income relies on other people choosing to delegate written tasks to me.

Eventually, every business reaches a tipping point. It can take months, sometimes years, but one day you’ll need help. Maybe you’ll no longer be able to manage packing every order or walking each parcel to the post office. Perhaps you won’t have time to tweet or blog or hang out on Facebook like you used to. Maybe bookkeeping will become too much, or the day-to-day admin will start piling up. It may be as simple as wanting to buy back some time, so you’re free to do other things.

  • Know When to Delegate

Sometimes a growing business is a bit like a house being heated by a boiler that’s nearing the end of its life. Chances are, you’ll notice something is up. The pilot light keeps going out and the hot water isn’t heating quite as quickly as it should. The annual service rings alarm bells and you’re advised to replace it in the not too distant future.

You can pre-empt the inevitable and buy that new boiler right away. The old one’s still running, so you’ve got time to research your options, find the best model and get a good price. Alternatively, you can wait for the old boiler to die in the middle of a particularly harsh winter {because isn’t that always the way} and then rush to replace it from a point of crisis. No hot water, no heat, and no time to shop around or weigh up your options.

Once you accept you cannot do everything forever, the wisest thing to do is look for warning signs and address the weak spots in your business before they start to create real issues. Sometimes a new system or process is all that’s needed to iron out the kinks, but often you need to delegate certain tasks and responsibilities to somebody else.

  • Learn to Let Go

‘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

If you have no desire to develop your brand or grow your business, you don’t need to worry. If you do, and you think you’re going to do it on your own by working 150hr weeks and never taking a day off, then enjoy! You’ll either prevent your business from reaching its true potential or burnout before you ever really have the chance to fly.

I get it, your business is your baby. You built it from the ground up. Everything you’ve achieved so far has been a direct result of your own hard graft and determination. Nobody could possibly care about it as much as you do.

Except maybe they could? Maybe it’s quite easy for other people to become emotionally invested in your dream, if only you’re prepared to let them in? What about the fact that when you delegate or outsource tasks to another small business, their success quickly becomes entwined with yours?

Letting go can be hard. I’ve watched numerous clients struggle to unburden themselves and hand over responsibility. I’ve also witnessed the overwhelming sense of relief many feel as they begin to reap the benefits. Whether they wanted to serve more customers, dedicate more energy to a different area of their business, or simply spend more time with their family, it’s delegating that’s helped them do it.

  • Find the Right Person for the Job

Ok, time for some tough love. You are not the best at everything. I’m not either. Nobody is. There are lots of things in your business only you can do, but there are also plenty of tasks somebody else will do better than you ever could.

Why? Often, it’s because the other person is a highly skilled expert who’s spent their entire career mastering something you’ve been doing to the best of your ability ever since your business took off. Sometimes it has less to do with talent or skill and everything to do with being able to give certain tasks the attention they deserve. Occasionally, it comes down to passion. Does every aspect of your business make your heart beat faster, or are there things you do begrudgingly? There’s bound to be someone out there who loves doing the jobs you hate.

Either way, delegating makes sense, but it’s vital you find the right person for the job. As well as knowledge and expertise, you need someone you can trust, someone who shares your values and cares about you and your business.

  • Be Prepared to Do the Work

Delegating doesn’t just happen. Handing over responsibilities requires time and energy. Often, you need to create systems and processes, do a little groundwork or spend a few hours training someone up. For many, this can be barrier. ‘It’ll be quicker if I do it myself,’ they’ll say. In the short-term, there may be some truth to this.

If you want to delegate successfully, you essentially need to make time to save time. A few hours spent handing over a handful of tasks this week could save you ten times that in the future.

To begin with, delegating can also involve a bit of back and forth while everyone gets to grips with the new dynamic. Don’t be put off by initial bumps in the road. Focus on establishing good communication and clear expectations.

  • In my own business, I currently delegate all the numbers stuff to my accountant and lots of graphic design to my pal Becky. In the future, I’d like to hire a VA and enlist the help of a cleaner to keep things ticking over at home.

Which domestic or professional tasks would you like to delegate and why?

Love Audrey xxx

Pin It on Pinterest

Love Audrey
How to Delegate Like a Pro
May in photos 🤳

1. Finally, some Franky weather. One of the best things about this month has been dusting off my summer dresses and being able to wear sandals ☀️

2+3. Coronation weekend. So many thoughts 💭 But the food was good! I made a vegan version of my mum’s famous coronation chicken and it was delicious.

4. Jesse staying upbeat during yet another trip to hospital. That steroid buzz though. IYKYK.

5. Some of the food served at the first meeting of Bristol Cook Book Club since 2020. It felt so good to get this going again. I can’t wait for our next feast!

6. Me among the cow parsley, snapped by Jesse.

7. I’ve been thinking about creativity a lot this month while working through the ‘The Artist’s Way’. 

8. Breakfast outside.

9. {Still} scrapbooking December. Fingers crossed I can finally wrap up this project in June 🤞🏻

10. Izzy’s final show at The Tobacco Factory. After tonight, she’ll be done with college {and compulsory education} forever 🤯

We packed a lot into this month. Enough to fill two carousels! This might explain why I’m so tired! I’m looking forward to June though. Everything’s better when the sun shines ✨
@_charlieswift has been raving about ‘The Artist’s Way’ by Julia Cameron for years. I finally caved, ordered the book and agreed to work through the course with her and some other artists. 

The book focuses on ‘guiding you through the process of recovering your creative self’ to ‘help you unleash your inner artist’. It’s early days {I’ve only read as far as week two and I haven’t even started my morning pages yet - IYKYK}, but I’m enjoying the process so far. 

Today I took myself on my first Artist Date - ‘a block of time… especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist’. I decided to treat myself to a solo cinema trip to see ‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.’ The film was brilliant and taking time out midweek to do something just for me felt… kind of naughty? And fun! It definitely filled my creative well {again, IYKYK}.

Have you read ‘The Artist’s Way?’ Where would you go on a date with your inner artist?!
Franky weather ☀️🌅🔆🌻✨

That’s it, that’s the caption.
April in photos 🤳

1. Our trip to London over Easter was a definite highlight this month. Here’s the obligatory ‘flowers outside Liberty’ shot.

2. Finally! Some sunshine! More of the same please, Mr. Weatherman ☀️

3. Dressed for a day of sightseeing in my new favourite pink jacket. It’s Boden and I bought it in the sale 💖

4 + 5. Scenes from a trip to the big Waterstones in Piccadilly. This poem by @charlycox1 floored me. Crying in a bookshop. Not awkward at all.

6. I was proud of these steps, so I’m posting them here for posterity 🚶🏼‍♀️🥄

7. The Easter holidays also featured lots of lazy days 🎮😴

8. We bought a nutribullet and I’m officially in my smoothie era.

9 + 10. Dinner and drinks at @thecoconuttreeuk with our IzzyBee. Taking your daughter out for cocktails is a season of parenting I’m very much enjoying.

Not pictured: a family funeral and the chest infection I’m still getting over 🤒 How was April for you?
Easter weekend in my hometown 💃🏼

No trip to London is long enough for me to see all the people and do all the things I want to do while I’m there, but we always manage to pack a lot in. It’s 17 years since I moved away, but somehow it still feels like coming home. Here’s some of what we got up to…

1. Being tourists.

2. Shopping at Westfield.

3 + 4. Hanging out and eating at Southbank.

5. Refuelling in Chinatown.

6. Enjoying the big Waterstones in Piccadilly.

7. Admiring the spring flowers outside Liberty.

8. Visiting the Imperial War Museum for the first time since I was a child.

9 + 10. Seeing Elton John at the O2 with my mama 👓🎹🎤🪩✨

I hope you’ve managed to enjoy the long weekend, whatever you’ve been up to! That sunshine though!☀️🤩
March in Photos 🤳

1. How it’s going…

2. How it started.

3. My in-laws were involved in a terrible car crash earlier this month. They’re very, very lucky to be alive. It was a horrible time, so I’m grateful there was a happy ending.

4. My husband sent me this photo of a photo from our wedding day while he was visiting his parents. Turns out his mum carries it in her purse ❤️

5. While I was waiting for news from Derby, I took myself out on a walk and ended up in @thesmallcitybookshop. It was like my feet knew books would bring me comfort.

6 + 7. Just spring things.

8. Vegan lemon and almond loaf and a green smoothie from @theorchardcoffeeco 🍰🌱

9. I bought it 🌸

10. Other music? I don’t know her. 

How’s March been treating you? Personally, I’m ready for April and spring PROPER!
There is a past version of me who cannot believe I get to do this every day 💭📝💻

She’s around 12yrs old, working on her first novel in a little ring-bound notebook, dreaming up stories, devouring books and trying to imagine a life filled with words. Everything that makes my business possible now barely existed then, so even she’d struggle to conjure up  an image of what my life looks like now.

I’m grateful that I get to do this, for the clients who trust me to find the right words, and I’m grateful to that past version of me too. Without her, I wouldn’t be here now. Sure, she’d probably want me to hurry up and get back to that novel, but I think she’d be proud of the business I’ve built and the way I’ve managed to create a life filled with words.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
Lockdown memories, three years on 🦠⏳

Very little of my life made it on to the grid in 2020, so this is the first time I’ve shared these images. They’re all from the first lockdown and most were taken between March and May. I think the arrival of spring will always remind me of this strange time.

When Boris made his announcement on the 23rd, our children had already been out of school for a week. Jesse, who was initially deemed clinically vulnerable, spent the next 6m shielding. He left primary school one day not realising he’d never go back. He did not see another child his age until the summer. Like many kids and adults in the same situation, the experience had a deep impact on his mental health. 

Izzy was in Year 10. As the pandemic raged on, she did most of her GCSEs online, celebrated her 16th birthday via Netflix Party, finished secondary school with minimal fanfare and missed out on prom completely. When she finally had a normal night out with friends in the winter of 2021, I cried quietly in the kitchen when she got home. Seeing her so happy and animated after a simple ‘cheeky Nando’s’ only highlighted everything she’d missed out on in the previous 18 months.

It’s easy to forget how little we knew about the virus in the beginning and how frightening that was for everyone involved. We had it easy in comparison to some, but I still marvel at the way we coped with it all. The way we isolated, home schooled and kept our businesses ticking over. My goodness it was hard! As my children often joke, I hope we’re done living through major historical events for a while.