“I can do this.” she insisted. A week later, Maria called in a panic. “I think I need to back out of this corporate deal. It’s just too much. I’m overwhelmed and don’t think I can meet their deadline.” she worried. “Hmmm… You’re seriously considering saying NO to a huge opportunity rather than bring on a couple of key team members? What’s that about?” I asked, curious.

“Honestly, I just can’t face the idea of a team right now. I’ve already spent too much time and money trying to get a team in place, and I’ve never found the right person. With all this new work coming at me I just can’t take that on right now.” she reasoned.

Sound familiar?

Every entrepreneur reaches a point in their business where the vision they have is bigger than they can implement on their own. And they face a decision—stay small or grow a team.

Growing a team feels like a big step. The ‘gulp factor’ sets in. Sure, you know all the reasons you should build your team—better leverage, faster growth, more time to focus on your personal magic, improving customer service, and more time off.

But, you’ve got at least a dozen reasons why now is not the time:

• I’ll add to my team when… (I start bringing in more money, I launch my new program…)
• Training someone will take more time than if I just do it myself
• No one will do it the way I want it done
• I don’t trust anyone else to have access to my personal business information
• Managing others is not my idea of fun
• Having a team will tie me down
• I don’t know how to find the right person and I don’t have time to look
• I don’t have the cash right now
• I’ve tried before and the VA bolted on me in the first month; I’m not going through that again
• This is just temporary, I won’t be this overwhelmed for long
• I don’t even know what I’d hand off to someone else
• I have no clue how to train someone to do what I do

Sure, these may sound like perfectly rational excuses. But let’s be honest. The thing no one talks about is the fear that holds you back. Every one of these reasons is rooted in fear. Fear of not having enough money, fear of losing control, fear of making a mistake, fear of feeling incompetent.

As the leader of your business, you have a critical decision to make. It’s not whether or not to build a team. It’s whether you are going to make courageous business decisions, or not. To confidently lead your business toward your vision takes courage. And, 99% of the time it also takes a team of people pitching in to make it happen.

My friend Maria finally came around and realized she could no longer afford to play small and play it safe. She put together her ideal team role descriptions and soon after found two new team members who were a perfect fit. Opportunities continue to roll in, and just last week she said “I am loving this team! They are truly awesome and I’m so glad I took a chance. I’ve brought in more than half of my 2008 revenue goal in the last 2 months and I couldn’t have done it alone.”

Are you next?

The next Virtual Team Building Tele-Bootcamp™ starts on April 2nd! This program is designed to put you on the fast-track to 6 or 7 figure success by leveraging the power of a team. Achieve MASSIVE results in your business in just 10 weeks. Discover how to create your super-charged virtual team by booking your spot now at: www.virtualteambuildingtelebootcamp.com.

About the Author:

Shawn Driscoll is a coach on the Success Connections team who brings great strengths from her Corporate background. Shawn is one of the resources for the ULTIMATE Wealth and Success Circle and one of the trainers for the Virtual Team Building Secrets.

Shawn is the author of The Ultimate Guide to Landing Your Ideal Job: Essential Strategies for Finding and Getting Work You Love and contributing author to 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, volume 2 as well as the “Ultimate Guide to Success! 80 Coaches Share their Biggest Secrets”.

It’s time for a To Do list Makeover. Let’s turn that time and energy sucking list of “To Do’s” into “Ta Da’s!” you can smile about.

So what’s a Ta Da! List?

A Ta-Da! list is results focused. It’s a list of high payoff tasks, that when completed have massive impact on your level of energy, results and success. Completing items on your Ta-Da! List produces results that energizes and focuses you.

By contrast, a To Do List is a never ending list of everything you think you should be doing. Not all items are created equal—some are simple items to get done, others take major effort. A To Do list is full of busy work that feels heavy and draining.

Here is a 5 step plan to tame that To Do list:

Step #1: Focus on Your Top 3 Priorities.

Every Ta-Da! List requires a clear focus. At the top of every list you make, start with your 3 most important projects or priorities. Don’t let your high payoff tasks get buried within a mile long list of ‘this and that’. Clearly focus on the 3 priorities that must get done, no matter what else happens. Let this focus your actions.

Step #2: Start Dumping.

Filter your To Do List for things you can DUMP. Your first reaction is going to be “There’s nothing I can dump!” But take an honest look. If everything is equally important then nothing really is. What items on your list fall in the ‘great idea’ category but have very little payoff if you do them? What items have absolutely no consequence if you DON’T do them? (I ask myself: Is NOT doing this of Cosmic Significance?) What items are “shoulds” that you keep procrastinating on because they aren’t aligned with your top priorities? Cross them off and be done with it.

Step #3: Delegate. Delegate. Delegate.

Identify anything and everything that you can DELEGATE to someone else (involve a family member, hire it done, give it to a team member, ask a friend or barter with someone to get it done). Retire the superhero cape and be honest: Does this task need ME AND ONLY ME to get it done? Is this something that someone else could help me accomplish? Once you’re clear on who else can do the task, hand it off. If you’re concerned it won’t get done to your standards, set a ‘check in’ date to review progress and provide input. But commit to letting someone else handle it to completion.

Step #4: Defer anything that can wait.

Take another spin through your list. If there’s anything on your list that doesn’t have to be completed within the next 7 days, defer it. Put these tasks in your calendar for a future time. Just knowing you’ve created a time and space for them will free you up to focus on other, more important, priorities.

Step #5: Time Block the rest.

All that should be left on your list are those items that (a) must be done by you and only you, (b) are linked to a top priority item and (c) must be done within 1 to 7 days. Now block time in your calendar to complete them so that you know they will get done.

One of the biggest mistakes we make with our To Do lists is keeping them separate from our calendar. You end up with a ‘to do’ list the length of your forearm and a calendar filled up with commitments that aren’t even on the list. That leaves you with no time to complete the items, skyrocketing your level of overwhelm and stress.

That’s it. 5 simple steps to create your Ta-Da! List. I challenge you to test this process for the next 30 days. See how much more focused and productive you are. Oh, and get ready to take your bow!

About the Author:

Shawn Driscoll is a coach on the Success Connections team who brings great strengths from her Corporate background. Shawn is one of the resources for the ULTIMATE Wealth and Success Circle and one of the trainers for the Virtual Team Building Secrets.

Shawn is the author of The Ultimate Guide to Landing Your Ideal Job: Essential Strategies for Finding and Getting Work You Love and contributing author to 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, volume 2 as well as the “Ultimate Guide to Success! 80 Coaches Share their Biggest Secrets”.

It’s not that they don’t understand the value of those efforts, or they don’t WANT to make the time. It’s that they’re simply trying to do too much by themselves. They’re so busy running their business that they’re not working ON their business.

Are You Spending All Your Time on the Little Stuff?

Owning your own business requires wearing a lot of hats. But it seems that when many people leave their jobs to “go solo,” they think they must work completely solo as well. They insist on doing everything themselves — even tasks they know darn well they’re not good at.

They try in vain to design their own Web sites and brochures, write their own sales copy, process their own orders, manage their own mailing list, personally respond to every customer call and e-mail, ship their own products, and more. Pretty soon they’re running around like that proverbial headless chicken.

What eventually happens is their love for their work — the reason they started their own business in the first place — drowns in a flood of administrative trivia. Suddenly one morning they wake up feeling burnt out and without that positive, creative energy they used to have.

When this happened to me a few years ago, I was lucky to learn about virtual assistants (VAs). VAs are freelancers who take care of all that “busy work” for entrepreneurs like us. Because VAs are independent themselves, they work on an as-needed basis from their own homes or offices, saving you the cost and hassle of hiring a regular office assistant.

I now have six VAs — Liz, who lives in Boston, Julie, who lives in Iowa, and a few others scattered all over the country. And I can’t live without them!

What Could YOU Delegate to a VA?

During next week, keep a log of all your activities. Then sit down and review it. Decide which activities are truly ones that only you can do and which you can delegate.

For example, here are some of the tasks I delegate to my VAs:

• Responding to customer e-mails and phone calls
• Scheduling business and personal appointments and interviews
• Bookkeeping: invoicing clients, receiving and paying bills, reconciling bank statements, tracking expenses and tax records, working with my accountant (This was my favorite to delegate!)
• Internet research and fact checking
• Planning my travel for speaking engagements and seminars
• Maintaining my e-zine and customer mailing lists
• Managing my e-zine ad sales
• Handling registrations for my teleclasses/workshops
• Maintaining my Web site (copy edits, additions)
• Creating sales reports
• Shipping customer orders and shipping products to anywhere I’m speaking.
• Submitting my articles to other publishers and article sites
• Placing ads in publications and at Web sites.
• Formatting e-books, creating PDF files, and sending out for printing.
• Designing PowerPoint presentations

And I don’t stop there. Liz and Julie have also been happy to help me with personal stuff like researching vacations, shopping around for car insurance, and reminding me of birthdays and other important dates. Thanks to these two amazing gals, I save my time and energy only for my “genius work.”

Worried You Don’t Have the Budget?

The good news is you’re not hiring your VA full time. A VA only charges you for the hours she actually works. Although VA rates may be more than you’d pay an administrative employee (usually $30-50 per hour), you don’t have the added expenses of employee benefits, office space, and equipment. You’re also getting someone who has years of experience, who loves what she does, who already has her own desk, chair, computer, software, fax, phone, stapler, and pens, and who’s ready to leap in and start work as soon as you are.

Keep in mind that having a VA will IMMENSELY free up your time to focus on the stuff that matters: marketing and growing your business, developing bold new product ideas and income streams, and servicing your larger clients. You’ll think much bigger and will have much more creative energy. I guarantee it!

Look for a VA That Matches Your Needs

If you’re looking for a long-term partner who is committed to helping you succeed (and I was), look for someone who’s graduated from a VA training program such as AssistU (www.AssistU.com). That’s where I found both Liz and Julie and some of the others, and I highly recommend it. Another resource is the International Virtual Assistants Association (www.ivaa.org).

Don’t wait until it’s too late! Most people put off hiring a VA until they “hit the wall.” Things like overdue bills, a messy office, late projects, and unreturned phone calls add up until their business almost collapses.

Take action NOW and at least learn more about getting some help. It will be a big relief, I promise!If you’d like some guidance in getting started, I highly recommend my friend Melanie Benson Strick’s Virtual Team Building Secrets program.

© 2003-2007 Alexandria K. Brown

About the Author:

Online entrepreneur Alexandria K. Brown, “The E-zine Queen,” publishes the award-winning ‘Straight Shooter Marketing’ weekly ezine with 22,000+ subscribers. If you’re ready to jump-start your marketing, make more money, and have more fun in your small business, get your FREE tips now at www.EzineQueen.com.