Regardless of their area of expertise, new business owners often find themselves filling the roles of salesperson, customer service rep, webmaster, office manager, and many others. This can be a practical solution, as it's difficult to justify paying someone else to perform these functions when you have time, but not money, to spare. However, if all goes well, the day will arrive when you no longer have time to efficiently maintain all of these roles. Unfortunately, most business owners don't prepare for this day, and as a result, they are forced to work more and more hours as they continue juggling multiple roles.

This situation can be avoided by following a strategy described in Michael Gerber's bestselling book, "The E-Myth Revisited." Gerber suggests that you prepare from the outset for the day when you need to start delegating to employees or outside services, by preparing an organizational chart for your business, complete with job descriptions for each position you currently occupy. This will allow you to identify the jobs you can delegate as your business grows, and because you've already prepared formal job descriptions, the transition will be less disruptive and stressful than if it is forced upon you when you are overwhelmed and overworked. If you're already at that point, there are some steps you can and must take now, if you don't wish to jeopardize your physical and mental health.

First, you need to take time to identify how you are spending your working hours. You'll probably find that most of your activities will fit into one of the following categories:

1. Key Tasks

Activities which contribute directly to your business goals are typically management functions and as a business owner, they should be your biggest priority. Unfortunately, when you are trying to do everything yourself, these tasks are often pushed aside so you can deal with day-to-day concerns.

2. Essential Tasks

You are likely spending close to half of your time on meetings, telephone calls, email, report writing, and other activities that are necessary, but not related to planning and managing your business. Delegating one or more of these routine tasks will free up time for your key tasks, and may even let you spend fewer hours working.

3. Useful Tasks

Tasks such as purging outdated material from your files should also be considered for delegation. These activities, although not critical to your business, will typically make your work environment more efficient and/or more pleasant in the long run.

Once you begin tracking your activities, you may be amazed to realize how much time you waste shuffling papers, looking for misplaced items, dealing with interruptions, and performing other tasks that make no contribution to your business. Taking time to identify these non-productive activities and to develop strategies to eliminate them will not only enable you to work more efficiently, but will give you time to organize your work in a way that you can delegate more easily.

The next step is to review the essential and useful tasks identified in step 1, and to list those that you may be able to delegate. You may wish to start with those you dislike, those for which you lack skills, or those that will be least expensive for you to pay someone else to do. Once you've determined what will have the biggest impact on your time and stress management, you can begin to look at potential delegatees and any further steps that may be needed in order to transfer the work.

The steps described above deal with the practical side of getting ready to delegate, but for many business owners, there is another side that is equally, if not more challenging. When you are used to doing everything yourself, it may be difficult to relinquish control, fearing that no one will do things exactly the way you do. For some, delegating for the first time can be as emotionally wrenching as a parent leaving a child with a sitter for the first time, but just as time away from you is essential to your child's development, delegation is equally vital to the growth of your business. Once you accept this fact and begin to delegate, you will never look back. Many of my clients have expressed how liberated they felt after they started to use my virtual assistant services, and I had the same experience when I handed over my bookkeeping to a professional earlier this year.

If you're still in doubt about the benefits of delegation, consider these words from Harold Taylor, author of "Delegate: The Key to Successful Management" - "Without delegation, small businesses remain small."

Get ready to delegate - get ready to grow!