It can be so easy to get started in business inspired by a dream or a vision from God.

You hear it all the time, “Don’t wait until it’s perfect just start” or  “Start before you’re ready and fix it along the way.” So you started your business with an idea and maybe a name and push forward into bringing your dream to life. And somewhere along the way you do a lot of things right to the point where you find yourself ready to expand. What used to be you packing orders or working with clients in your living room now needs a direction to move forward to bring in more customers or prepare you to work with a team. 

If you’re anything like me, you’re a “it’ll take me less time to do it myself than explain it to you” type of person. And so many business owners fall into that same trap. 

But thinking like this makes it so much harder for you to delegate effectively and makes it nearly impossible for you to take any time away from your business. If you’re ready to let go of handling everything yourself, welcome to type-a entrepreneurs anonymous. We’re here to help you get the information needed to run your business out of your head and into a system to be used by your team as you grow and to facilitate you helping more people. 

1. Get clear on who you are and where you want to grow to. 

Understanding how your business came to be, why you chose your name, why you serve your population, and where you ultimately see yourself growing to, is vital information to get new team members as excited about your business as you are. It gives them the information they need to buy into your idea and become your biggest cheerleaders. Armed with your mission and core values, new team members will be able to easily make decisions about what makes most sense for the company and what aligns with who you are. They will help you drive your business development strategy forward.

For instance, say you’re working with a Virtual Assistant on creating content for the month. If they have documents to reference like a brand manual, or a mission statement, they’ll be able to make much better decisions on things like word and photo choice for each post. You won’t need to hold their hand or coach them through a few rounds of trial and error for them to get a sense of who you are and what you expect.

That will result in less revisions and less back and forth to get things done. Less back and forth means more time for the both of you to get more work done and better work done. And while this is one of the more tangible reasons why there are also a few hidden benefits of documenting your reason why. 

Putting your hopes and dreams for your business down on paper make them real and remind you of why you’re working so hard every day. They set your goals in stone for you and the universe and gives you a clear path to work for that other people can hold you accountable for. Not only that, seeing your vision beautifully laid out and polished will give you a newfound sense of confidence in what you’ve already accomplished. You’ve already manifested this dream into a reality, it’s just time to take it to new heights. 

2. Create manuals as you learn new software and develop new practices

Learning new systems or developing new production workflows is a natural part of any business. Whether it’s downloading a new payment software or experimenting to update a product formula, write everything down as you do it. There are so many facets of your business that new hires will need to learn. You probably don’t even realize how much you do and how much information you use on a daily basis that won’t be accessible to new people as you bring them in. 

 As you learn each system or create a new practice, write a short guide or manual. Not only will this help you retain the information better, when it’s time for a new person to take on that role, they have what they need to succeed. Remember the goal is for you to stop doing the work of 15 people so you can focus on the high level needs of a business owner. 

3. Plan for the ideal state and work toward it.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it a thousand times. You started a business instead of freelancing because you have a dream that reaches beyond you. Your vision is to touch lives on a greater scale for your customers and your employees. You have to start to run your business now as if all those lives are already in your corner. Get organized as if you have a team of 50 and they need a clear communicator and effective delegator. Put systems in place so when new people are onboarded, they have everything they need without shadowing you for 2 weeks. Is there a manual for them to refer back to or is there a training guide for them to find answers without bugging you? Prepare now for the blessings you want to receive. On the flip side, you could do yourself and your business real damage by waiting to take this action.

Imagine you’re working and suddenly go viral on tiktok or pinterest. Now you have the biggest order you’ve ever received and a team of your family and friends on standby to help you fulfill it but you have to take every person through each step because there’s no guide to help them get it done. At this point you can’t stop and think it through because you need to get your order out. Or in another scenario, you’re relaunching your mentorship program and receive and influx of 1000 applications to review with your deadline in 3 days. If there’s no approval system or rubric laid out beforehand you have to go through all those applications alone. Whereas if you had created an approval system from the start, you could hire an intern or have a friend help you review. 

All this to say that it’s too late to prepare for growth when it’s already at your doorstep. Documenting who you are, where you want to expand to, creating manuals as you go, and using systems will help you plan for the growth of the company you’re working so hard to achieve. Do the work now and when you’re ready to take off you’ll be able to sustain massive growth. There’s nothing more heartbreaking in business than having a mad rush of customers, only for your infrastructure to break and leave them dissatisfied.