One of my clients recently commented that with all her responsibilities she felt like she was juggling a lot of balls in the air — managing the shop, its employees and its inventory, her charitable obligations, and her responsibilities with two young kids at home plus her husband.

And this was before the challenge of COVID that we are living in today. Now she added home-schooling for her kids.

Can you picture yourself there?

I certainly can. At any given time I have content to write or deliver related to ICAP and our Members’ Studio, lectures and workshops to prepare for events where I am speaking, coaching calls with clients, planning for upcoming events or launches, not to mention the various balls I am juggling as a wife, sister, aunt, friend, and homeowner. I’ve added mask maker and more cooking to my list at this time. It truly could make you dizzy.

And, I know your life is not any different than mine or Beth, my client. How do I, and you, manage to juggle these responsibilities and not succumb to the falling balls? Here are some tips.

Outline your responsibilities

You have to get a handle on what you are responsible for in your life, so start writing. Create a list of your responsibilities and relationships.

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You have a big vision for your business, right? And, as much as you might like to, you can not get to the big vision without support.

In the beginning you did everything, or most everything yourself.

Depending on your business, in addition to creating your art, you packed and schlepped every thing to the post office. You wrote all the copy or directions and tested your own patterns. You packed your patterns. You did your own bookkeeping. You cleaned your studio. You tried to set aside some time for marketing. You learned how to maintain your website, if not develop it.

Whew! I got tired thinking of all the activity.

Recently I was talking with my client Claire, a needlework designer, about the need to start delegating some of her work. She was overwhelmed with the amount of work on her plate and she felt that she needed to do it all herself.

Claire is like many other small business entrepreneurs  who have a hard time delegating. It is hard to leverage your time to work on your business if you are always working in your business. Claire, like so many small business owners, had a fear of assigning work to others. (Control issues, anyone?) When you looked at this on a deeper level, you can discovered a few common reasons.

First, Claire was afraid that if she had someone else do a task, they would not do it as well as she could. Of course, this is really a story in her head, and it is not necessarily true. Just because you can do something does not mean that you should. Often someone can do the task even better than we can if we just let them. It is about letting each of us work in our brilliance.

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For many of us, moving the needle may have different connotations, especially since so many who read this blog sew. Today I want to talk about moving the needle forward in your business. All of us get stuck. Sometimes it’s just a simple tweak that can get the machine moving again. Sometimes it is something bigger that you need to do to move your business to the next level. Here are nine ways that will help get you moving and bring in cash to your business:

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Do you ever feel like you are so caught up in the everyday, ongoing activity in your business that you can’t actually find time to make decisions about your business?

Do you take on tasks that you shouldn’t?

Do you really need to be the person who runs to the post office to mail off the patterns you sold?
Do you need to run to the office supply shop when you are out of staples?

If the answer is yes, when do you have time to look at your numbers and make hiring or buying decisions if this is how you spend your time? We all know the answer to that one; you don’t.

While you may not see yourself in the above scenario, I’m sure you aren’t always working smarter in your business. And, it’s not really a function of managing time. We all have the same 24 hours. It’s more about managing energy. You can actually do something about your energy. And, if you can learn how to manage your energy, then you can put attention and focus where they belong — on your business.

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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 Maxwell

I had a conversation with one of my clients last week about her massive to-do list. She was so busy doing things like shipping and answering emails that she could not work in her brilliance. For her this is designing. And, I can tell you she was frustrated, and her business was suffering from this.

Not delegating for some of us is really about giving up control. It is hard when we know how to do everything correctly. (Do we really?)

And, we think that by the time we show someone how to do it, we could have done it ourselves. Yes, it does take time initially. The end result is worth it.

For others it is not knowing where to start — what to delegate, who to delegate to, and where to find this person.

Here is a system that has worked for me and my clients.

1. For the next couple of weeks, write down all the tasks you are doing. And, I mean all the tasks. Even personal tasks.
2. Go back and identify the tasks as Entrepreneurial/Managerial (tasks you must do) or Administrative/Technical (tasks that could be done by someone else). You might even find tasks that are really unnecessary and should be deleted.
3. Next to those that are Administrative/Technical and assign a dollar amount that you think you could pay someone for doing these tasks.
4. Sort the tasks by category. You might find some related to your website, some to social media marketing, some to personal items, some to bookkeeping. This will help you identify the type of person — their qualifications — you need to hire.
5. Identify potential resources where you might find help. Possibilities include assistu.com; ivva.org; odesk.com; elance.com; craigslist.com; your church; your neighborhood; the local shelter; arts groups or guilds you belong to. Once you start thinking in this direction, you will come up with other ideas.
6. Start with the lowest cost items first or the ones that are most frustrating to you. For many people, bookkeeping is the first task they delegate. Set up expectations for the task, create trainings/procedures for the person you hire, and develop a system to be sure that things get done.

Yes, this takes time, and should be something to revisit on a periodic basis. It is easy to slip back into doing it yourself instead of teaching someone else to do it, especially if the hire does not work out as you expected.

So what should you be delegating that you are not? Who are you going to hire? And, when? Share what one item you are willing to let go of.

If you have taken steps to delegate, or have more questions regarding delegation, please feel free to leave a reply below or on the ICAP Fan Club Facebook page.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE?

Please do! Just use it in its entirety and be sure to include the blurb below:

Morna McEver is the founder and CEO of the International Association of Creative Arts Professionals where creative arts entrepreneurs craft business success. Her weekly e-zine offers tips, techniques and inspiration to help you craft business success from your creative arts passion. You can sign up for a FREE subscription at http://www.creativeartsprofessional.com.

Do you remember the hit “Rescue Me?” Depending on how old you are, the tune was recorded by Fontella Bass, Madonna, or Daughtry. While the lyrics are different, the theme is the same. The subject of the song is in need of rescue, rescue by someone else.

While many of us are not looking for a someone to save us in the terms of the song, do you have other instances where you are looking for a rescue? I will give you a few examples. Are you looking for someone to take over your books and then tell you what to do with your business? Are you delegating  some of your work and then not following up or keeping track of the work? Did you fall behind preparing for the next show and are scrambling for someone to get you of the jam?

It is fine to look for help or get feedback. It is not fine to give up your power by looking for a rescue. And, yes, this is what you are doing by not being fully knowledgeable about your business. Remember delegation is not the same as abdication.

You cannot completely step into your own power and accept the rewards you deserve from your life and business if you are looking for a rescue.

It really comes down to personal responsibility. You need to learn to be your own rescuer. Besides, rescues only really work in fairy tales!

Where in your life and business are you not taking personal responsibility and waiting to be rescued? How are you going to change this? Why not share your thoughts on our Facebook page or leave a reply below.

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photo credit: MendocinoAnimalCare via photopin cc

How many hats do you wear in your business? I know most of us wear more than one, particularly if it is a relatively new business. We have not had time to put the necessary systems and teams in place, so we are everything from the creative head to the shipping department. While that is how most of us start out, at some point we need to look to shed some of those hats. If we want to create a successful business, it is important to take an honest look at our skills and look at where someone else could do the job, i.e., take some of the hats from you.

In the past couple of weeks I have had conversations with several clients about their plans for 2014, and some have centered around the CEO hat. When you wear the CEO hat, you need to take “yourself” out of your business. That can be hard for many of us. I think it is because what we create is so personal. We don’t want our feelings hurt if someone does not like our art, and it can stop us from getting the information we need to make decisions about our business. We have got to remember we are making business not personal decisions. Yet it is critical to put on that CEO hat if we expect to grow our business.

As you take time to look at where you are in your business in 2013 and make plans for 2014, try to take yourself personally out of the business, put on your CEO hat, and consider what the right decision is to grow your business. Look for those places where someone else can handle the tasks and allow you put your energy where it belongs: having the big vision for your business, selling your business ideas and energizing those on your team.