This week is a massive one for me. As I'm writing this one of my Associate Trainers, Nicki Davey is running my 1 Day Workshop How To Create A Successful And Profitable Training Business - The Easy Way! in the South West and on Friday Angie Reed will be doing the same in London.
There's a big part of me wishing that I'm there running the Workshops.... after all, the Workshops and the whole concept of The Trainers Training Company is my creation, my baby. It feels very strange to be handing it over to someone else and I must admit to feeling a bit worried as to how it's all going to go even though I know it's all going to be fine and both Nicki and Angie are sure to do a great job!
But there's another part of me that feels proud to have achieved my goal of rolling my Workshops out around the UK and taking my business to the next level. The reality is that to run 2 Workshops in different parts of the country in the same week would have taken so much planning and organisation to work around family commitments. I'm SO glad I'm not on that Virgin train down to London on Thursday night! It feels nice - and a lot less stressful to be making money from home this week instead.
One of the biggest traps you can fall into as a freelance trainer and business owner is thinking you have to do everything yourself. As I've just proved, you don't have to. And there are massive benefits to be gained from using other people to do things that they can either do quicker and better than you or to just free up your time so you can concentrate on your core business activities.
Why not start by doing a simple exercise?
Get a piece of paper. Write down all the activities you need to do to run your business, everything from delivering training to answering the phone to printing off training manuals.
Once you've done this draw 2 columns on a new piece of paper.
In the left hand column write down all the things from your first list that only YOU can do, this might include training delivery, coaching calls, attending networking meetings etc.
In the right hand column list everything that can be done by others. And be really ruthless. Do you really need to spend hours printing off training manuals or hours on the web searching for training venues for example? Is it really essential that you write your own newsletter?
Once you have identified all the things you need to outsource FIND A WAY TO MAKE IT HAPPEN. Don't say you can't afford it. The question you should be asking yourself is 'How can I afford not to?'
Next week I'll be sharing with you some great people and resources I've found that enable me to spread the load and focus on my business.
In the meantime ....
UPCOMING EVENTS
How To Create A Successful And Profitable Training Business - The Easy Way!
Next Workshops in EDINBURGH, MANCHESTER AND LEEDS.
Also just announced a NEW DATE for LONDON in April.
