As a small business owner, you understand the incredible amount of work required to get a company off the ground. You also probably complete a wide variety of tasks in the initial phases so that you can keep as much of your earnings in the company as possible. However, at some point, your growth requires that you hire or outsource some of the tasks that take up a lot of your time. These are a few small business management tips to help you as you grow.

Recognize Your Weaknesses

You may have started a business that sells a product you excel at producing. However, you may not be skilled in accounting, finance, human resources, and other management tasks. On the other hand, you may be a CPA who doesn’t have much production knowledge, but you have a great product idea that solves a current and future societal need.

At the start of your business, possibly in your business plan before you even open your doors, you should identify your weaknesses. Where do you need additional knowledge or training? How can your weaknesses extend your workload or take your focus off of what you do best?

Find Your Strengths

Identify your strengths, but don’t stop at the obvious. Although you may be a CPA with exceptional accounting and financing skills, you may find that you are an effective leader and team member as well. List all the things you are skilled at. Consider ranking them based on your level of proficiency, and compare this list to the things you enjoy doing.

Focus on Your Strengths

You have probably heard that 20% of your work produces 80% of your results, but what if you could focus 100% of your efforts on tasks that produce results? This is the concept behind leveraging your strengths.

When you focus on what you excel at, you aren’t wasting time trying to learn what you don’t already know. You won’t waste time trying to figure things out, which can be detrimental if your weakness is in financial matters because your lack of knowledge may result in fines and fees as a result of improper recordkeeping or financial management.

Outsource What You Cannot Do Well

As you review your weaknesses, ask yourself what tasks you can outsource. Many reputable companies provide financial, human resources, sales, or marketing services for other businesses. Save yourself time and money by outsourcing tasks that involve knowledge or skills that you don’t have.

Small business management success is a delicate balance of leveraging your strengths and finding others who can fill the gap in your knowledge and skill levels.