To achieve business growth, you need to focus on your strengths and hire others to take care of the rest.

Unfortunately, entrepreneurs often fail to employ this fundamental business growth strategy.

Whether it's driven by pride or fear, I meet many entrepreneurs who have difficultly delegating, including recently: a fashion designer who won't let go of her accounting; a pastry chef who refuses to let designers get near his website; and a furniture maker who turns down professional help to arrange his storefront.

"To be good at business does not mean you have to be good at everything," suggests Mark Wardell, President and Founder of Wardell Professional Development, which helps businesses across North America attain sustained growth.

So how do you overcome this common roadblock? Wardell says it's a matter of placing more value on time.

"When you invest your money, you expect it to return a profit," he explained. "Your time works the same way. When you invest rather than spend your time, its value increases dramatically." 

He cited Henry Ford, who became successful because he ‘invested' time in developing an assembly line system to build automobiles. Ford, he noted, would have not enjoyed the same success had he ‘spent' all of his time building cars.

"This small, yet, significant shift in thinking," stated Wardell, "allows business owners to achieve more, with less effort and in less time."

Following are six steps to help you delegate successfully:

1. Recognize what you're good at and what you're not good at.
   
   
2. Surround yourself with people whose talents complement your weaknesses.
   
   
3. Invest time to find the right people to fill the roles. Send out e-mails and make several calls as referrals from trusted sources are ideal. In any case, do your due diligence, and acknowledge your instincts.
   
   
4. Negotiate agreements that will provide real value and/ or desirable return on investments.
   
   
5. Clearly define and communicate your objectives and goals to help establish expectations.
   
   
6. When the work gets done to your satisfaction, convey gratitude and pay on time.

Once you get experts working in all areas of your business, you'll have more time to invest in long-term strategies and, ultimately, the overall success of your business.