Business owners and employees alike are simply stressed out. You have so many things to do and it’s hard to stop for a moment and figure out how to deal with stress in your business.
You, as a business owner, are like an orchestra conductor: from a bird’s eye view, you know the whole piece of music and what each section is supposed to play. You practice, guide and direct the sections into a coordinated performance.
If a conductor had an empty oboe seat, or a tuba player who just wasn’t getting it, they wouldn’t go down into the pit to take over that instrument, despite being the one who knows most about what to play. To do so would leave no one directing the music – which would bring the performance to a halt.
This analogy shows you your route out of being stressed by an overfull inbox, running behind on strategic planning or R&D, taking paperwork home to finish, etc.
Use this powerful, yet simple, solution:
As you go through the day, keep a list of all the actions you perform. Do this for at least 10 days. In some companies, a month is better.
You’ll see that too much is being single-handed at the top by you. You’re playing the oboe and the flute, and turning the pages for the cellist! This is completely bottlenecking your own company’s production.
Go over the list and start shedding actions to staff – hire them if you have to – beginning with the actions closest to you as the owner.
For example, if the list is full of handling mail and fielding incoming calls, start with a personal secretary. If your list is full of marketing actions, hire a marketing director. You may have to hire more than one. You will earn the expense back in spades from the increased production and sanity. This is how to reduce stress and deal with anxiety as a business owner.
A properly manned orchestra will finish a score in 15 minutes, whereas an orchestra with a conductor playing each instrument will take hours – and sound terrible.
You’re costing yourself a fortune in lost income – income that you didn’t make that you should have made – when you try to single-hand things.
There are rules about who to hire, and which positions to fill first. Our business management consulting company has all of the details on this. Just start with writing down everything you do during the day, and when you get to 10+ days, give us a call and we will show you how to start shedding some it!
