CHAPTER 2
FOUR NEGATIVE MINDSETS TO RESET

Being a business owner in today's ever-changing business landscape is a tough game. The pressure and constant stress can wear many of us down — and that little voice in your head may not be doing you any favours. This little voice has more control than you think and is one of the major drivers of success or failure. What holds many business owners back from delegating or outsourcing tasks is the story that little voice is constantly repeating.

Through my work as a business coach and asking my clients 'what holds you back from delegating many of the tasks on your to-do list?', it became apparent that there were four negative mindsets that kept coming up:

1. They can't do it as well as I can.
2. I don't want to give up control of the task.
3. I can't afford it.
4. I don't have the time to implement this.

These mindsets need to be understood and eliminated in order for you to effectively implement the Stop Doing List system.

Negative Mindset 1: ‘They can't do it as well as I can.'

This is the lamest excuse I have ever heard, and one of the most common! You need to understand that most of what you do is not unique and that many of these tasks can be done by others. It's certainly a big obstacle to overcome — trying to come to a place of accepting that someone else can't do it as well as you can. And the truth is, on some tasks, that is actually true. I am not recommending that you stop doing the tasks that you are brilliant at and make you money; I'm saying you should stop doing the tasks that have to be done, but are of low value to your business.

These low-value tasks have a tendency to fill our days, pushing us away from those tasks we are brilliant at. Even if you are brilliant at the low-value tasks, your energies are better spent on the task that is going to make you the most profit.

So why can't they do it as well as you can? It is my observation that many business owners do not set people up to ‘win'. In order to enable someone to do a low-value task as well as you can (or better), you must:

• Clearly explain what you expect from them. Set a clear expectation of the deliverable, time frame, work standard, and so on. Do not leave it unspoken.
• Train the person how you want it done. This is often done by having a clearly documented system and spending time with the person, allowing them to understand how you want the task done.
• Have a system for accountability and reporting in place. This will enable you to oversee the task being done without having to do the doing. All of this is covered in detail in part III.

Many times when a team member doesn't do a good job at a task, it's because of one or two reasons:

1. The person isn't the right fit for the task or for your business. This is where defining your culture and how team members fit in (covered in chapter 11) is important. You also need to spend time matching the person and their strengths to the right tasks. For example, someone whose strength is sales is often very people-oriented and is often a terrible fit for an administrative role that requires someone to be very task- and detail-oriented.
2. They haven't been taught well. This is often the major reason team members fail, especially when the business owner is only just starting out with a team. Training someone in a role is more than just walking them through the steps a few times. Everyone learns differently, and being able to adapt your training to suit someone's learning style is extremely important (this is covered further in chapter 8).

The key to training your people is to teach them how you think when you are performing the task. Teaching the step-by-step sequence is not enough. Remember that you have been performing this task for a long time and probably feel as if you perform it automatically. But the reality is you're asking and answering a series of questions in your head every time you perform the task — you just haven't taken the time to teach this to others.

Negative Mindset 2: ‘I don't want to give up control of this task.'

The next excuse I'll often hear is, ‘I don't want to give up control of this task.' For many people, their business is like their child. They care for it, nurture it and slave over it, spending years of blood, sweat and tears on it. They would do anything for that child. But a business matures just like children do. In time you have to allow it to function without you holding its hand. If you don't, if you control it too tightly, the business will not be allowed to grow.

There's a concept from the Hubbard Management System called the knowledge–responsibility–control (KRC) model (discussed further in chapter 7). Knowledge, responsibility and control work as a combined force. To achieve the desired results in any area of life, it is crucial to have a degree of knowledge about it, to assume some responsibility for it and to take control of it.

Many tasks cannot be delegated because the business owner is the only one with the necessary knowledge. There is no documented system, and it's time-consuming to train people, so it seems easier for you, as the business owner, to just do it. Now, if increased knowledge is the path to responsibility and control, then as long as you remain the most knowledgeable, guess who remains responsible for and in control of the task? That would be you!

In order to let go of control of a task, it's essential you focus on educating someone within your team to perform it. As you increase their knowledge, you empower them to take more responsibility, which in turn allows them to take control of the task or situation, ultimately removing it from your own to-do list. It's often a business owner's inability to teach effectively that is the missing ingredient.

You need to find the right balance of control versus freedom for your team so they can make their own choices as your business matures. Business owners who tightly control all areas of their business often inadvertently stifle growth. When you begin to let go of control, the business almost takes on a life of its own. When teams are empowered to make decisions independently the business often grows exponentially without the business owner having to work harder.

It's perfectly natural to have a higher level of control when your business is young. During the start-up phase of most businesses, the owner is required to be very hands-on due to limited resources. But having the mindset and systems ready to take advantage of the Stop Doing List system as the business matures will see the business grow faster.

Negative Mindset 3: ‘I can't afford it.'

‘You really can't afford it?' is often my response when a business owner tells me they can't afford to hire someone to help them. Time is your most precious commodity. It is nonrenewable, and how you choose to invest your time will ultimately determine your success or failure. Most business owners dismiss the idea of getting help, without exploring all of the options available to them.

In order to conclude you can't afford help, you need to be clear how you are making this assessment. Many business owners simply look at the hourly rate of the person they would delegate the task to and conclude ‘I can't afford it.' This is a very narrow-minded view, and certainly not what I would call an entrepreneurial view. In order to calculate the cost–benefit analysis of getting help, first you need to know your hourly rate. (This is covered in chapter 6.) Then assess how much time the chosen task will take to perform, and extrapolate this over 12 months to obtain a per annum cost.

Let me give you a quick example.

TASK: UPDATE DATABASE RECORDS DAILY

Time to complete task

=

6 minutes per day × 5 days per week (30 minutes per week)

Hourly rate of current owner of the task

=

$75 per hour

Current owner cost to complete the task per week

=

$37.50 per week

Current owner cost to complete the task per year

=

$1950 per year

Let's assume that this task is delegated to an offshore assistant and their hourly rate is $10 per hour.

Offshore assistant cost to complete the task per week

=

$5 per week

Offshore assistant cost to complete the task per year

=

$260 per year

Net gain

=

$1690 per year

Now it's important to understand that there is also an opportunity cost here. If you were to invest the 30 minutes per week you now save into an income-producing activity, the opportunity cost of you choosing to do the low-value task is double the calculated gain. This is because in choosing to perform the lower-value task you forgo the opportunity to complete an income-producing task. So, using the previous example, instead of making you $75 per hour, updating the database...