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Fifty-six percent of new businesses do not survive at least four years according to the Small Business Administration (SBA). The number one reason for business failure which accounts for 61% of failures, according to Dun & Bradstreet, is "Managerial Incompetence: the skillful use of resources to accomplish a purpose." "Unbalanced Experience" accounts for 22% of failures -- not being skilled or having access to a variety of skills.

Your success and freedom as an entrepreneur depend on your ability to focus on what you love and do best and eliminating and/or delegating everything else. Delegation is "assigning responsibility and accountability for specific outcomes or achievements to a specific individual or organization unit." Sounds fairly simple? Why then do so many entrepreneurs find it hard to delegate? What steps can be taken to help entrepreneurs learn to delegate more effectively?

To draw on others' skills effectively, all you have to do is be willing to focus on your own skills - your "Unique Talents". Your Unique Talents are what you love and do best. You have passion for these activities and they create immense value for your clients. To help you realize your Unique Talents, try this exercise. For a week or two, keep track of all your activities and how you spend your time. Then identify those activities that you love doing, do best, are passionate about and would probably do them all day long - even for free! These are your Unique Talents. All other tasks should be either eliminated or delegated after assessing your return on investment (ROI) and other factors. You will then have your Delegation Plan. This plan is one element of the foundation you must have before you begin delegating. Another element vital to your success is your mindset.

Obstacles to Delegation (and clues to recognize them)

1. Lack of confidence in others. Clue: "No one does it better than me, besides it's faster if I do it myself." You may fear that others can't do tasks as well as you can. Even if you do delegate, you feel you must keep track of every detail and worry about "what could go wrong."

2. Lack of awareness. Clue: "I can't afford help and I don't even know what to delegate." You may simply not be aware of the tasks that can be delegated because you have not invested time to examine your activities and learn about professional help that you can access.

3. An inflated ego. Clue: "My way is the only and best way to do things." Are you a control freak? You may not even realize it -- ask your friends or colleagues what they think.

4. Confusing action with productivity. Clue: "I'm too busy and don't have time to find help." Are your activities producing results or are you just busy putting out fires? Or you may feel that if you delegate, there will be nothing left for you to do. Nothing could be farther from the truth!

5. Fear of taking risks. Clue: "I don't think that anyone can really understand and care about my business like I do." Risks are necessary for business growth. Delegation requires a calculated risk - a risk that you give thoughtful consideration and for which the potential benefits and costs have been weighted and considered.

7 Tips to Delegate Effectively

1. Recognize that delegation is crucial to your entrepreneurial success and that you can't do it all by yourself. Give yourself permission to "try on" the concept of delegation.

2. Take time to analyze all the activities you are doing and assess any obstacles you may have to delegating effectively (limiting beliefs and habits). Get the support of a Business Coach to help you with this vital process.

3. Examine your options -- Is an employee, a Virtual Assistant or another Virtual Professional the solution you need? Get all the information you can before making a decision.

4. Communicate effectively what you want done. Make sure your standards of performance and expectations are clear, such as what needs to be done and to what degree of detail.

5. Define the scope and degree of authority and responsibility given to the person for the delegated task. Did you know that there are ten levels of delegated authority? Make clear which decisions may be taken independently and which require your approval.

6. Set a time limit for completion of project and clearly state the budget available.

7. Establish a follow-up calendar. Find a way to handle feedback, updates, advice, and progress reports so you can intervene without holding up the project.

Successful entrepreneurs have gone through the growing pains of letting go to get the help they need. By delegating work to others you will be more productive and have the ability to focus on what you do best. Are you ready to make a change? Ask yourself right now: What would it be like to be among the entrepreneurs that succeed? What is the first step I need to take? The world is waiting to be served by your Unique Talents!

Copyright 2008, Michele Hanson-O'Reggio. All rights reserved.