The Agile Startup: Quick and Dirty Lessons Every Entrepreneur Should Know

Delegate, Don’t Abdicate

The temptation of every overworked entrepreneur is to hand off responsibilities as quickly as possible. Don’t delegate duties until you’ve done the job yourself first. To do otherwise is to abdicate, not delegate. Whether it’s a lack of time or a low confidence, abdicating responsibility is irresponsible. Even if you’re a terrible salesperson, try to drum up a few sales before hiring anyone else to take over.

Proper delegation is essential. First and foremost, you’ll learn critical information by doing the job yourself. By going on a few sales calls, for example, you might realize that a core feature of your product completely missed the mark. Good luck discovering this insight through a game of telephone with your new salesperson, who barely knows the product, doesn’t understand customers’ needs, and probably doesn’t care about your company’s long-term success.

More than feedback, you need to know what it takes to get the job done. By doing it yourself first, you’ll know what to look for when hiring. Also, you will be able to tell when the person you just hired is cutting corners or trying to pull a fast one on you.

Don’t abdicate. Do the job yourself first, and then delegate.

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