Time. There is only so much of it. In the daily struggle to get everything handled, how you manage your time is incredibly important.
Here is a question for you: why do so many shop owners wear so many different hats?
Based on the discussions I’ve had with these folks over the years, a good number of them own up to six different roles in their companies.
Does that sound like you?
They do the sales. All of the marketing. The purchasing. They help out in production. In the afternoons they are manning the shipping desk. At night when it’s quiet, they are sending out invoices.
Despite having staff, it often feels like you are doing all of the work. All. Day. Long.
Scaling the business seems impossible as that just means more work in these categories. A sick day or even a vacation often is seen as a pipe-dream. Going to a trade show or a networking event will happen “next year”.
Therefore, putting things off becomes the norm.
Too Busy Being Busy
Yet, for many of these people, the problem centers on their inability to give up control. They can’t prioritize or allocate time for more valuable activities.
Like a deer caught in the headlights from an approaching car, they are frozen in their tracks with the thought of “what if”. This is why they struggle with delegating.
a. “What if they don’t do it like I would?”
b. “What if there is a mistake?”
c. “What if they miss something I would catch?”
If you can relate, then this article is written for you. Below, I’m going to outline some thoughts to get you moving in the right direction for a positive change.
Get that stress, frustration, and anxiety behind you.
First, Let’s Talk About Why Time Is Important
You are smart.
Your shop started because of you. Taking the risk and becoming an entrepreneur is not something most people do. The majority of people are happy to work for someone else and enjoy the security of getting a paycheck on a regular basis.
But that’s not your story.
Nope.
You started your shop because you identified a need. Maybe you wanted to monetize your creativity. Everything clicked and it made sense.
However, now you are bogged down in the details of running the business. You want to get to the next level, but there is never enough time in the day to plan for that. Your gut tells you that something needs to change.
This is a good thing. Align yourself with that reasoning.
The only way improvement happens is when you are open-minded and receptive to the change.
You Have To Want It
Remember to ask yourself how much is your time worth? Any instance where there is an opportunity to free up your time needs to be considered. Your mental work focus should be on what’s coming down the pike up to about eight weeks out.
Not diving into the busy work of processing orders.
The more you are flying at 30,000 feet above the day to day operations, the better.
The old adage “work on your business and not in your business” definitely applies to this discussion.
Why Hiring Matters
Maybe the reason you are hesitant to delegate work to someone is that you simply don’t have the right people working for you.
Not having the skill is one thing, because people can be trained. Not having the right people that can be trained, is a completely different story.
If the reason you are standing there at the shipping desk every afternoon is that nobody on your staff is competent enough to be trained to ship orders, then you have a big problem on your hands.
The answer is simple, but that doesn’t mean it is easy. Hire better people.
In some markets, this is a tough challenge to solve. There could be a lot of competition. Or it’s the opposite, your shop is located in an area with a geographically-limited talent pool.
Either way, it’s your shop culture and what you offer that are going to drive better people to work for you. If you are trying to solve this situation ask yourself, “Why would anyone want to work in my shop?” Can you add any reasons to the list? (Hint: Money shouldn’t be the number one reason.)
How does a potential-employee know how fantastic it will be to work in your shop? You have to market this similar to finding new customers.
If you have competent and motivated staff, training and delegating tasks you’ve been doing is much simpler.
What are you doing to solve this problem?
Next Up, Training
One of the common responses to a frequent question of mine, “Why haven’t you built a training program?” is often, “Hey, we just don’t have the time.”
Ah, but you do.
Because you don’t have a training program built, you are operating much slower than other shops.
Installing a training program to build core skills and industry knowledge is worked into their everyday schedule. Every employee is involved and is constantly participating. The answer to the question is that they have figured out how to manage their time better.
They have eliminated the “don’t have the time” excuse.
Which is exactly what it is…an excuse. If something is important enough, time will be freed up to handle it. It’s all about the organization and planning.
Build Your Training Program
Here’s a fast and easy way to build a training program for a skill.
First, write down the 10-20 core steps for any task, job, or activity. Then, on a calendar make an appointment training slot for each of the steps for the person that needs to be trained. Make this time slot about thirty minutes or so for each step. Remember, if they are doing some other task, you may need to have someone cover for them while they are learning. With more difficult tasks, they may need multiple training sessions.
Build A Database
Keep a spreadsheet with these named core skills. Track who is fully trained, and who is learning.
For example, let’s say you want to train Fred to become a printer. He’s a good worker and is enthusiastic about learning. Getting Fred trained in this slot would be helpful because when Steve, your normal printer, is out, you personally have to cover for him.
If Fred was trained, this would fill the coverage need but also allow for growth as you’ve been eyeing adding a new press to the lineup.
Two birds, one stone.
Core Steps Example
You have identified the core steps for learning the printer position as:
- Reading and Understanding the Work Order.
- Efficient Prep for Production – double-checking you have everything you need.
- Craftsmanship and Quality Control.
- Pantone Colors.
- Loading a Shirt Onto a Platen.
- Squeegees: Durometers, Angles & Pressure.
- Registration.
- Print Order for Colors.
- Print Production. Smooth is Fast.
- Troubleshooting.
- End of Job Information – Prep for the Next Order.
- How to Minimize Downtime.
Start With Lesson One
Fred gets started with the first lesson, “Reading and Understanding the Work Order” as a scheduled activity at 2:30 pm on a Wednesday. He will be assigned each step and as he masters each he will be assigned the next. As he’s working in his normal capacity, if anything on press could be an interesting lesson he’s brought over to review and learn.
Then one day a few weeks later, Steve is out sick. Fred is given the opportunity to produce the work. He may be slower than Steve, but he’s faster than not running production. And now, you can take that customer meeting across town and not have to cancel.
Like magic, you are now in two places at once.
Back To You
So what hats are you currently wearing that you can give away to someone else?
From talking to shop owners all across the country, I know that most hate or don’t want the accounting, marketing or art jobs. Those hats simply don’t fit well.
This is the reason those bottlenecks exist, as these tasks frequently have some hefty procrastination on your part as you don’t enjoy doing them. Or, you really don’t have an expert skill level. Like a lot of shops, you “make do”.
This could be a financial decision too. Maybe you aren’t at a point where you can hire someone for these tasks. Not everyone has employees to turn to for help.
Yet, taking control of this problem is critical to your shop’s growth.
There are a few methods available to you to handle these chores if you don’t have the staff available.
Outsource
Many tasks in your shop can be handled with an outside resource. For example, you could hire a marketing firm to drive sales leads and develop a social media marketing strategy that works. You can handle the sales end of the stick, and using a marketing expert allows you to free up your time to close more deals. Hiring an outsourced expert vendor tackles the chore, but pushes it the next level as results happen faster. Plus, it’s not you doing the work.
The same can be true with accounting or creative art chores. Why slave over those tasks when you can bring in a pro?
Bake the cost of these expenses into your pricing with your overhead. As your business grows and you acquire staff, you can always bring these tasks back in-house.
Automate
Hey, there’s an app for that. No, seriously.
Don’t want to do something? Simply drop in a search word into Google and find the technology.
By the way, *ahem*, this is the sole purpose of InkSoft. To automate tasks to help you run your shop better. Why not have your customers design their own art using our Design Tool? All you have to do then is download and produce the order.
The InkSoft Stores platform is great for sales. You can market to your customers 24/7/365.
Automating any task in your shop improves your quality and speed.
Again, it isn’t you doing the work. What tech on the market could make a huge difference for you?
Standards, Systems, and Tools
As processing a Work Order has logical steps, each task along the way can have a standard expectation assigned to it. This is for every important step in your process.
The reason?
Detailing your shop’s “way” of handling these tasks becomes less of an oral tradition and more of the established norm.
For example, let’s look at Purchasing. What timing rules do you have for inventory buying? Is there a policy to look for pricing updates on goods, or do you only use a few vendors?
Similar to the training for screen-printing mentioned above, you can establish the core task list and train someone to make the purchasing decisions for you. The standard could be to purchase on the same day as order entry if possible. You have three main distributors that you use, but for certain SKU’s, you always purchase from the same one.
Standards like this example can allow you to train your staff on how to make decisions.
This means there is a standardized method for completing any task in your shop. It could be reclaiming a screen, sending a quote, or applying a hangtag to a t-shirt.
Your goal is to set these in place.
Tools
Improper use of tools in the shop can cause problems too. You have to show people how to use the tools of the trade properly. Examples include training to understand how to measure screen tension, mixing ink using a digital scale, or setting up a job quickly using a registration system.
Some of these tools used in your shop are obvious.
But when you check into things you’ll find that the Newton meter never comes out of the case. Nobody presses the spell-check button. That Pantone book is up in the art room, and not on the floor next to the press.
Trust with employees is important. As keeping staff accountable is scary, sometimes you’ll hear “it’s easier to just do it myself”.
But it is not.
As you are growing, that mentality slows you down. It keeps you anchored to mundane tasks.
What is easier is to train people on how to use the tools of our profession and then hold them accountable for using them properly. In fact, train multiple people. Industry knowledge can’t be a secret.
“Let me show you how this works” is a phrase you should hear every day.
Elevate and Delegate: Homework
Here’s some homework for you. I want you to make a list of all the tasks that you absolutely HATE doing. Maybe you would rather scrub a toilet than start working on these tasks.
Furthermore, add to that the tasks that you find yourself doing because you don’t have someone trained. (But could.)
How long is that list?
The next step is to prioritize those tasks by how much time it would free up for you. If something is on there that only comes up once a month, it’s not going to make a big of an impact as something you do every day.
We want to target the top opportunities that will make a difference for your time.
Got it?
Look To Your Staff
Who is a good candidate for handling this workload from now on? You want to elevate this task as a priority for change. Get it off your plate forever.
Now, have a conversation with that person you have identified.
“Shirley, you have been a great worker this past year. I love your enthusiasm. What do you think about learning a new role here?”
Discuss your expectations for the new duties, how important it is, and why you think they will do a great job. It is important that you talk about potential landmines that may come up, the complexities of the position, and where you struggle. Be honest.
Focus on the training, and review the big picture of what it might look like six months from now when they are handling this role for you.
Then, start the training program.
In a shorter period of time than you might think Shirley is now doing that chore you hate. Or don’t have time for any longer. While you knock out bigger, more important decisions.
Move faster.
.
“I find that many entrepreneurs are trying to do everything when it would be cheaper and more time-efficient to delegate, even if there are monetary costs associated with that.” – James Altucher
“Confidence comes from discipline and training.” – Robert Kiyosaki
“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” – Leo Tolstoy
Production Manager Tool
From day one, we’ve been devoted to making InkSoft the most useful tool for printing and customization professionals across the industry. While thousands of users are growing their businesses with InkSoft Stores and the Design Studio, we know we still have a lot of work to do to help print shops run more efficiently.
The next big step is a production management tool. We want to bring InkSoft full circle by providing a powerful way for you to streamline production and communication, ultimately boosting profitability and reducing costly mistakes. Not to mention, solving the challenge outlined in this article.
