Since my husband, Jason, (God bless him for being open to this blog-o-mine) moved in together almost 12 years ago, we've been divvying up household chores based on a couple key criteria:
#1. Which of us give a crap... Sounds funny but true because you know what, we just have different tolerances for household build up.
I can't stand trash in the house, so I take it & the compost bucket out daily. He thinks if the floor is clean, the house is clean. He cooks, I wash dishes. Come on, you have some kind of agreement like this too, right?
Anyway, my point is this, as you're doing the chores of the business like sales outreach, invoicing, book keeping, contracts, inventory, scheduling, travel logistics, negotiations, whatever it is in your business,
decide who's managing what.
And actually go over your list together... out loud. I was surprised at the stuff he thought he was in charge of. ("Oh honey, no, that's not yours...") It turned out to be a relief to take stuff off of his mind that he thought he was managing because I hadn't actually told him out loud that I would handle.
The point is to eliminate redundant efforts. Trust me, there's plenty to do. Focus your skills and talents to make the most of your time and effort.
If you heard an inner voice say, "Yeah, but... we do everything together (or) we know what the other is thinking..." good luck to ya. Never been there. That's all I'll say on that.
#2. The second criteria is who's better at it and enjoys it? Because doing something you suck at and dread is just no way to live.
Me, I LOVE bookkeeping. Most people don't know that about me, but give me a monthly bank statement to reconcile and I'm one happy camper. Invoices? Love'm! Setting up online bill pay and running accounts receivable reports... cha-ching, sign me up! All this stuff is completable and little projects that I can start and finish in one sitting.
Ask me to map out a new product line or strategic business plan, and my whole body tires and gets fidgety.
So get an organizational chart (org chart) if that helps you see all of the hats to wear in a business and start putting your initials here & there & everywhere by the roles you want to be accountable for. Let your partner do the same. Then you say, what about all this other shit left over, where no one put initials near? Ahhh, now you've framed the question that has silently been going on all along. You guys will figure it out; outsource, hire a part timer, whatever. But at least now you're laid claim to the parts that you love. ( And if you don't love them, that's important info too. Something to think about.)
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