Delegation Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over more than two decades of being an assistant — and more recently, building a network of Virtual Assistants — it’s this:
High-achieving entrepreneurs don’t do it all themselves. They delegate. And that’s exactly one of their greatest strengths.
The Myth of the Solo Super-Star
So many of us have been sold the image of the entrepreneur as a lone genius: the founder burning the midnight oil, juggling every single task, only relying on themselves. But that story? It’s romantic and it’s risky.
Actually, the most successful business owners I know are generous with their time in only one way: they’re generous with handing things off. Delegation isn’t a weakness. It’s a power play.
Whether you’re starting up, scaling, or just trying to preserve some saner work-life balance, here’s how you can think (and act) like a high achiever when it comes to delegation.
Understand What Only You Should Do
One of the first secrets of delegation is clarity: What are your tasks? The ones that truly move the needle, and what can someone else do (perhaps better, or at least more efficiently)?
Strategic Projects: These are the things that require your vision, skill and decision-making. Growth plans, business development, long-term strategy, those are yours.
Operational or Repetitive Tasks: Something like email triage, calendar management, research, or client onboarding calls? Those are prime for delegating.
Time-Sensitive Admin: If admin is eating into your thinking time, it's not just busywork, it’s productive work that's misplaced.
Choose the Right Person — Not Just Anyone
Great delegation only happens when you hand tasks to the right person.
Trust matters. Delegating means entrusting crucial parts of your business to someone else. That takes confidence.
Skills must align. A VA isn’t just a glorified admin, they come with varied expertise. At VAA, VAs are hand-picked and matched to a client based on both skillset and personality.
A true partnership. Effective delegation isn’t dumping work. It’s creating a relationship. One where your VA anticipates your needs, communicates proactively, and becomes a trusted extension of you.
Document, Train and Empower
When you’re giving over work, the temptation is to gloss over the “how.” But the best entrepreneurs I know don’t delegate in a vacuum, they train.
Write down how things are done: standard operating procedures (SOPs), templates, checklists.
Walk through with your VA: show them, don’t just tell them.
Give feedback early and often: when someone takes on something new, you need to help shape how they do it.
Trust enough to let go: once the VA is trained, step back. Allow them to make decisions in their domain (within agreed boundaries).
In my experience, like that of the team at VAA, this isn’t just a time-saver, it’s a mindset. Structured, thoughtful delegation is an investment, not a cost.
Reclaim Your Time — And Your Headspace
The magical, practical benefit? You free up your most precious resources: time and mental bandwidth.
Imagine having ten extra hours a week, or more. What could you do with them?
Work on the business instead of in it.
Think creatively rather than reactively.
Build deeper client relationships.
Finally have space to breathe — or to stop working into the evening.
If you’re running your own business, that kind of breathing room makes all the difference. It’s not laziness, it’s strategic leadership.
Scale Without Sacrificing Sanity
Here’s a secret many entrepreneurs discover too late: growth isn’t just about more revenue. It’s about smart growth.
The more you grow, the harder it is to do everything yourself. Unless you delegate, your business will hit a ceiling: you can only scale so far on your own energy.
By building a reliable delegation system; one based on trust, clear processes, and good connection, you’re laying a foundation for sustainable, scalable growth. You’re building something that can run without you having to micro-managing every task.
Lead by Example
When you delegate well, you set a tone.
For your team: You show that high standards don’t mean you do it all; they mean that you empower others.
For your clients: You communicate that you're serious about your business’s structure, your time, and your priorities.
For yourself: You give yourself permission to be more than “the person who does everything.” You become the person who builds.
Final Thoughts
Delegation isn’t about shirking responsibility. It’s about smart stewardship. High-achieving entrepreneurs don’t cling to tasks, they entrust them. They understand that their most valuable asset is not just their time, but their ability to think, plan, and inspire.
If it feels hard to hand over the reins, that’s normal. But with the right mindset, training, and partner (like a VA), it becomes the very thing that unlocks your next level.
Here’s to you: delegating with purpose, growing with clarity, and leading with wisdom.
If you’d like help figuring out what to delegate, or even how to find someone you can trust to take it on, I’d be more than happy to help. Just drop me a message.
