I was recently talking with K about a conversation I had with a group of Entrepreneurs concerning how I have so many businesses.  When I say tell people that I have nine businesses I often get looks of disbelief, awe, and shock.  They simply can not understand how I have any free time to do anything, let alone have coaching clients, business clients, family time, and cycling time.  Yet I always give them that knowing smile and say one word: Automation.

In my world of being a recovering control freak, analytic, and perfectionist I realized that I needed to get my businesses automated so that I could simply check in on them from time to time and make sure that they were still rocking and rolling.  When the business is built around sound systems, there is very little need to constantly tweak it.  It’s a simple concept that almost everyone has heard at one point or another, Work ON your business, not IN your business.

Now don’t get me wrong, have I had issues from time to time that has ground some of the businesses down into the ground?  Sure, but that is the learning curve…or failure of technology.  Even the best systems can get stopped dead in their tracks due to tech failure (nothing scares an online business owner more than server failure).  Yet even tech failure isn’t the end of the world, that is why God created backup systems.  If Server A fails…Server B takes over.  I know some online giants who have entire server farms as backups, but I digress.

As I was saying, I was telling K about the conversation when it all came together for me.  In one sentence I essentially summed up my entire business philosophy.

Automation is the Modern form of Delegation, which is a Sign of TRUE Leadership.

I am a notorious delegator.  Some view this as a bad thing, yet anyone that is truly successful realizes that to be free to work ON your business you have to delegate away the minimum wage jobs in your life.  That is not meant to be arrogant, just a fact.  I have to say that I learned about this concept from Robyn Thompson.  Robyn teaches that to fully be free to work ON her business, she can’t be held down by everyday tasks (aka house cleaning, grocery shopping, etc).  I know what your saying, “Well she’s made it, I can’t afford to do that!”  Well your wrong.

While you don’t need to have staff to handle such tasks, there are ways to stream line them so that you spend very little time on them.  Let’s take grocery shopping.  I personally LOVE to grocery shop and cook, yet there are times when I know I should be writing, teaching, speaking, cycling, etc. so what do I do, I use PEAPOD service for my “everyday” shopping.  The groceries are delivered to my door the next day.  Plus in such services you can actually save your shopping lists on there.  One click and the usual supplies are on the way.  You see most people instantly assume that delegation is giving a task to another human…but today it can just as easily be delegated to a SYSTEM.

Just think of this way, if you have a website up for your business (and I certainly PRAY that you do…you should have multiple sites up btw!  If you don’t, go get one from our company REI Office Solutions!  <sorry shameless plug there>) Anyway, as I was saying, if you have a website up for your business you are already delegating away some duties.  If you sell things on your site, aren’t you really delegating way a sales person position to the site?  If you offer information, aren’t you delegating some othe duties of a customer service rep?  Get the idea.  Delegation in todays world STARTS with the systems we put in place, and when those are insufficient for the need, it then goes to the classic delegation to a person or staff.

The important thing I got from Robyn’s teaching was that we, entrepreneurs, need to change the way we look at our TIME.  Just realizing how much it costs me to go grocery shopping in TIME makes me cringe, yet I know that it also is my “ME” time to think, slow down, and enjoy the experience…but I still think about the costs!  It’s a personal choice, my choice.

Do you choose to be a Leader?  Or are you still the employee of your business?  Let me tell you, it’s time to change your mindset.  Automate your business, delegate the daily grind, and show true LEADERSHIP that others can admire.

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