If you’re a typical small-business owner, your shop isn’t just your job; it’s part of who you are. Your team, your reputation and the work you do are part of your identity.
Let me ask you a hypothetical question, though. When was the last time you took an extended period of time off? Not just a day or an afternoon, but for a week or two for a much-needed vacation?
Let me guess – it’s been a while.
And here’s a follow-up question: Do you feel like you would be able to if you wanted? Or do you feel that if you’re not in the shop, it won’t run as efficiently as it should?
Christy Jones, a certified business coach and owner of Clarity Business Coaching, grew up in her family's body shop. She became the owner of that shop in 2015, and she says she saw that exact same scenario play out in her career.
“When I bought the business, I was doing accounting, HR, estimating, marketing, and then I also took on the role of production manager,” Jones says. “That had me working 60 to 70 hours a week, and I was doing basically everything except answering the phones and fixing the cars.”
She thought she was doing what was best for her business, but she says it was just the opposite. She was exhausting herself and limiting the growth potential of the shop.
Though it can be a difficult decision to make, letting go of some of your daily responsibilities and delegating those to your team can prove to be best for your health and the shop’s.
The Problem
A recent Harvard Business Review article highlights the typical situation for small business owners and managers. Many people that move into management are usually promoted for the good work they did in a previous role. They’re doers, people who are good at what they do, take pride in their work and enjoy their day-to-day.
“As an individual contributor, you may have been particularly strong at delivering results and completing the tasks on your to-do list,” the article says. “But once you’re promoted to a leadership role, you must accept that you can’t do everything on your own — nor should you.”
Jones was very much in that position, and though she enjoyed the work, it was taking a toll.
“People who start out in business, and specifically body shop owners, they want to do the work,” she says. “They like doing it, but there's always a tipping point where it's costing the business more for the owner to do it all than it would be to invest in additional staff and delegating resources to different people.”
Once you reach that tipping point where the amount of work you’re doing is hindering your shop’s performance, it’s time to make a change and loosen your grip on your shop’s day-to-day business.
The Solution
Once you can delegate and assign tasks to people, Jones says it’s almost irresponsible not to.
“It's one of the most profitable actions that a business can take,” she says. “Allowing those other staff members who have the skills and strengths to perform those additional tasks is just going to skyrocket profit, efficiency, and it can build a better culture.”
And “skyrocketing profit” isn’t hyperbole. A study done by business management analtyics and advisory firm Gallup shows that CEOs who were able to effectively delegate day-to-day operations to their staff generated 33 percent higher revenue.
“Once you’re promoted to a leadership role, you must accept that you can’t do everything on your own — nor should you,” the Harvard Business Review article says. “Though it may seem counterintuitive, the more senior you become in an organization, the less you’ll be involved in doing the day-to-day work. You’ll need to have a sense of what’s happening without directly contributing to every project.”
Though it can be a difficult step to let go of the work you’ve done to help grow your shop, Jones says there are some steps that can help make delegation a little easier.
She suggests first making a list of every single task that must be done each day at your shop, down to opening mail, locking doors and answering phones. Once that list is created, identify the people in your shop who are best suited to do that work.
“Your name can be on that list, but it shouldn’t be the only name,” Jones says. “The more methodical you can be about this, the more successful that delegation can be.”
To delegate effectively, Jones says it’s crucial to understand the personalities of your employees, what motivates them and what kind of work they like to do. Using tools such as a dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness (DISC) assessment or other personality test can help identify a team member’s strengths and growth areas, which will help you decide what tasks they would be good at taking on.
Once your employees are given their new tasks, you also need to provide clear expectations and constant feedback to make sure that they’re handling the change well. Having clear, concise, and constant communication will help make sure the transition is implemented smoothly.
“Most of the time, you can't predict what's going to happen when you make a change like delegation,” Jones says. “You have to trust that you're going to have a better outcome, but if you can clearly define your policies and procedures, that's going to eliminate challenges.”
The Aftermath
With any big change, there are going to be some hiccups. Jones says that’s normal.
“I relate it to the disassembly process of a vehicle. You want to go slow at the beginning so you can go fast through the repairs,” she says. “If you can slow down and be methodical about your delegation, it's going to minimize the issues and challenges that come up.”
Though it took some time, Jones says delegating allowed her to focus on the big picture – she was able to acquire another shop, and in 2021 she was able to sell both stores to Caliber Collision. None of that would have happened if she were still involved in the daily operations of the stores.
“I was working 12-hour days, I was there on weekends, and that just wasn't a life I wanted to lead. That business was running me,” Jones says. “I really made it a priority to remove myself from those responsibilities, and I found that my shop became more profitable and more efficient because of that.”
The Takeaway
Delegating responsibilities to your team can be a difficult decision to make. It requires a very hard conversation with yourself that what you’re doing may not be what’s best for your business, and it requires a deep trust in the people you work with.
However, Jones says that in almost every situation, delegation is the easiest and best way to ensure the long-term success of both you and your shop.
“The decision for me came from me realizing that I couldn't do what I was doing anymore,” she says. “Looking back, that profitability, efficiency and growth were enabled by delegation and removing myself from all the responsibilities and letting people who could do the job better do it.”
