Slight thread derail.
At what point will you delegate these tasks?
If your company is decent sized surely you've admin etc that have authorisation & autonomy for small purchases such as websites jobbers etc
Shouldn't a boss work on his business not in his business?
Yes Andy I know you like coal.
A complete website redevelopment isn't something that I'd ever not be involved in regardless of how large my company got. A lot of the technical work is delegated, but I'd be involved in the process. For small tasks to keep it updated, yes this is handled by my team and I have little involvement other than to occasionally critique it to make sure it's meeting my standard.
I'm not sure there's a set answer to your question. It depends on your business.
I've learned that business ebs and flows. Sometimes working on your business involves getting dirty and working in your business for periods of time.
Don't ever think you'll be too high to not get your hands dirty, and if you're not willing because you think your time is too important at those moments when you should, then your business will suffer for it.
One example is from last summer. Long story short we had a landscape component to two custom homes being built side-by-side. Our landscaper became a liability and it was the 11th hour. I certainly had a ton of important things to do to work on my business. But working in my business at this moment was more valuable.
So I rolled up my sleeves and rented a skid steer. I had to bring in about 100 yards of soil through a less than 4' wide space (so I had to use an S70) and build up the grade on a steep hill over 4' deep feathered down to 1' deep at the bottom. Half of which was on the other side of a freshly poured (2 days previous) concrete walkway that went up the hill, and was almost 2' above starting grade where I had to cross. So I had to build a dirt ramp up and over it in such a manner that the concrete would be protected.
So I spent close to 34 hours in 2 days working in my business.
Could I have delegated the work to one of my employees? Possibly. But it was a critical job that none of them were trained for, and how could I ask them to put that kind of hard work and time in if I wasn't willing to do it?
I lead the way and worked hard in a very dirty and noisy job. And my employees saw it and were inspired by it. I gained more of their respect that day, and it was a great team effort. We bonded and they ended up putting personal things aside and stayed late with me to help make it happen. With no extra pay because they're just on salary.
And in the end we did a better job than any landscaper typically does. That much fill and after a year of rain and settling, (anyone that's built homes knows disturbed soil can settle an incredible amount), it only settled about 1/2".
As the boss, by working in my business those days, I did work on it.
This is a larger tangible example. But there will be many smaller times where as the boss, it's just time to roll up your sleeves and get dirty.
I can look back and see the times where I thought my time was too important and I didn't work in the business when it called for that attention, and it cost my business dearly.
Also, regardless of any delegation, it doesn't stop people from getting a hold of my number or email and trying to solicit me.
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