How to scale a one-person business

If you're running a one-person business and need help scaling it, here's how you do it.

I DID EVERYTHING when I started my first e-commerce business (Jumpbooks.lk). I imported books. I created and managed the website. I packaged and shipped products. I was marketing the products and supporting customers.

This continued for almost two years, and the business eventually stopped growing. This is what happens to most one-person companies. They stop growing.

Then I came across The E-myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber.

This is the book that changed my business. After reading it, I realized that I have become the business bottleneck.

The business wasn't growing because of ME!

If you're struggling to scale your business, here's what you must do.

• List down everything you do in your business.

At this stage, you're doing everything in your business. Creating/sourcing products, marketing, selling, and even customer service. Grab a piece of paper and write down everything you do. Don't leave out anything. Write down even the most minor thing.

• Decide what you enjoy doing and what you don't

I enjoyed researching new books and managing the website. But I didn't enjoy posting things on Instagram and attending to customer inquiries. Start ranking the items in your list from 1-10. Tasks that are 8 and above are what you enjoy doing in your business. Anything else should be delegated to others.

• Create processes

The next step is creating detailed processes for every task you have decided to delegate. Let's take customer support, for example. Open a Google doc and write down the frequently asked questions and the answers. Include everything you think we'll be helpful if someone else were to handle customer inquiries. Write them with as many details as possible.

Here's the golden rule of creating process documents. Can anyone read the process document and do the job without contacting you? If the answer is yes, you have done justice to it. You don't have to limit it to a written document. It can be a screen recording or a video where you explain how to do it.

These process documents are not final. They are living and breathing documents that will improve over time.

• Start hiring

There's only so much you can do. To scale your business, you need to build a team.

If you have never hired somebody, this could be scary.

This is where the process document comes in handy. The process document becomes the responsibilities of the job description. Look at popular job boards to determine the average salary and start posting your job. Sometimes the best place to find a potential employee is your customers. That's how I found my first, second, and third hire!

• Training and monitoring

Once you hire your first employee, remember to train them. Sit with them and show them how you operate. And when you feel like they have a hang of the responsibilities, allow them to run independently. But don't forget to closely monitor. Do this for at least 3 months until they work according to your expectations.

Some things are much more nuanced, and you learn them by doing. That's why sitting with them while they perform the task is essential. You can course correct.

That's it. Then you rinse and repeat the process for other tasks in your business. Once you start delegating, you'll realize that most of your time is free. You can use that time and energy to focus on more critical tasks that will help to scale your business.

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