Are You Wearing all the Hats in Your Business?

When you're in business for yourself, you wind up wearing a lot of hats. Sometimes this is essential, sometimes it's a hassle and often times it can be extremely detrimental to your success. The essential times come out of realizing that no one can look after your dream, your true desire, like you can. It's important to remember that you need to be in the driver's seat, you need to take responsibility and you need to hold the vision of what you desire... your dream... your business. The times when wearing a lot of hats is a hassle is when you realize there are only 24-hours in the day, when you need to be in 2 (or more) places at once, or when you don't have the guidance, support or info you need to implement an idea or strategy. The times when it is detrimental (or downright dangerous) is when you try to design, build, sell, pack, ship and wear ALL the hats - all at once - while trying to build your business, help your clients, live your life and generally stay sane. Every time Paige and I have taken a hat off by investing in our business (whether that's getting support around a specific issue, getting a mentor or adding to our team) our business has grown by leaps and bounds. That being said, we've had resistance...resistance to letting go...resistance to losing control...resistance to spending more money... resistance to taking off one (or more) of the hats... But every time we hand a hat off to someone else or learn to wear it in a different way, we get to focus more on our dream, have more energy to express our brilliance and most importantly, have more time to help more people transform their lives and businesses. It is so incredibly important to get support in building your dream. It's important for you to realize, you are not meant to do it alone, sometimes, you are not meant to do it all. This means you are not supposed to wear ALL the hats. Here are a few ideas and great resources where you can get the support you need:

• Look into getting a virtual assistant (www.adhdvadirectory.com, www.vanetworking.com, www.ivaa.com, www.virtualassistantforums.com, www.elance.com)
• Put an ad on www.craigslist.org looking for a part time assistant.
• Reach out to a local college or trade school about getting an intern to come in and help you.
• Ask around ... let people know what you need. You will be amazed at who may be right in your own back yard :)

There are so many people out there waiting, willing and wanting to support you and help you build your business. One more thing for you to think about as you are deciding which hats to pass along to others is something one of our mentors shared with us when we first started building Authentic Marketing and that is to get support based on where you are going, not where you are. In other words, think about and plan for the inevitable growth that comes when you actually get support. You have a big dream, you have a huge vision and you deserve (and need) the support of others to help you build it. To paraphrase Henley, you are the master of your fate, you are captain of your soul. And now become the master of your vision and the captain of your business. Confidently wear your Captain's hat and begin creating a team that can wear the other hats so you can truly shine in your brilliance. Give yourself permission to grow by getting the support you deserve, so you can build the business of your dreams. Your Authentic Assignment Are you wearing all the hats in your business? Are you trying to do everything? Are you spending time doing things that aren't your brilliance? It's nearly impossible to build a successful business without getting support (especially for the tasks that you're not great at). Make a list of all the things that you do in your business that are not the core of your brilliance. These are the hats you shouldn't be wearing. Now the last step is often the hardest, but begin taking those hats off and get the support you need. Look over that list and begin brainstorming about who can help and support you around those tasks. Then start reaching out and asking for what you need. The support is there and once you step into it, your expansion truly begins.