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Key Takeaways Building a strong team and mastering delegation is crucial for preventing burnout and enabling business owners to focus on growth.
Developing leadership skills is a key to business success, requiring a clear vision, effective communication and continuous personal development.
Making personal connections with clients through face-to-face interactions can lead to stronger relationships and business opportunities.
The traditional wisdom says that to be successful and grow, you need to stay up with the latest technology, harness the power of AI and constantly innovate. Maybe, but even more important than all of that are the “soft skills” that set you and your company apart. In fact, to take your business to the next level, you need to focus on three key things.
1. Build a supportive team
One of the biggest issues in the workplace is burnout. And it is not just employees; owners are struggling. At the beginning, you do everything because you simply don’t have the money to hire or the time to train. You are in “Superman” mode. There is value to taking on every task and being involved on the front lines. It helps you understand what operational systems are needed and shows you the areas that need attention or may cause bottlenecks. It provides firsthand knowledge that helps you better serve your customers. But as time goes on, you need to build a bigger team and delegate.
Many business owners have not figured out what they should and shouldn’t be doing, but this is a key step toward knowing who to hire and what skills are critical to the operation. Without that, an owner cannot concentrate on building a thriving business.
Even when a business owner puts a team in place, they often find it difficult to delegate. I admit it is hard for me as well. Why? We believe that we can do whatever the task is better and faster than anyone else. Sometimes we are right. Sometimes we are wrong. But the point is, you cannot do it all, especially as your business grows. People who build a team and have figured out how to delegate are ahead of the curve.
One additional note: That team does not necessarily need to be on staff. There are a variety of companies that provide fractional workers who are very skilled in specific areas such as marketing, HR or finance.
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