Scaling 101: How business owners buy back their time through delegation

As a business owner, your main goal should be to fire yourself from as many roles as possible.

Until you master delegation, your business will own you, rather than the other way around.

Delegating isn’t easy at first, nobody gets it right straight away. But over time, I’ve learned some valuable lessons through working with my clients at Virtual Choice VA. Today, I’m sharing my thoughts on delegation, and some tips to help you master it.

How to Turn Chaotic To-Do Lists into Clarity-Driven Action Plans:

Over the next 3 weeks, try this exercise: every time you work on a task, write it on a sticky note. At the end, organise your tasks into four categories:

1. Low leverage, high time: Time-consuming tasks with little impact. Delegate these first.

2. Low leverage, low time: Less critical but quick tasks. Delegate these second.

3. High leverage, high time: Important but time-consuming tasks. Delegate these third.

4. High leverage, low time: High-impact tasks that don’t take much time. Delegate these last or keep them for yourself!

Pro Tip:

If something doesn’t bring joy, get rid of it. The same principle applies to tasks. I let my client focus on what they are uniquely skilled at and LOVE doing, then delegate the rest.

The Hardest Task to Delegate, or maybe, do not delegate at all

For business owners, it’s content. It’s personal— your face, voice, and brand. Whilst I encourage my clients to delegate most tasks in admin, simple finance, sales, and marketing, you should always try to work with your content creation and manage closely.

Let’s finish with this…

I wanted to get a sense of what 'delegation' looks like for others. Personally, I have no shame in delegating tasks like cleaning and food delivery, but I was curious to dig deeper. So, I asked a few close mates for their thoughts.

The funniest response came from a friend who said, “I hire someone to interview candidates from my dating apps before I leave for a business trip. By the time I arrive in the country, they've already been through at least two interviews."

I love the sarcasm, but guys, please don’t get any ideas...

Hey, my name is Nicole. Are we friends on Instagram? Let's connect.