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Press Cuttings - Delegation's what you need to grow

Business A.M 5th August 2002

Last year's winner, Learning IT, has hit a crucial point in its development, says Duncan Macleod

They say that one of the significant steps in growing a small business from scratch is when you get to the point that you no longer make all the decisions.

At the very beginning it's easy - you have picture of the business you want to create and you make all the decisions to get you there.

If there are two of you, you discuss and then decide. No problem, you probably share an office anyway.

As you grow your staff numbers, you employ people whose opinion you value, so you discuss, consult, decide. Or, sometimes, as in our case, discuss, consult, decide, change your mind, discuss, defer, forget, decide.

Then you reach the point that there are too many things for you to decide what to do about everything.

The textbooks tell you that a lot of small businesses can't cross that hurdle - the owner/founder/boss wants to be involved in everything, approve or veto everything, can't delegate, can't relinquish control.

Our experience in Learning IT was that getting through this stage in growth is a gradual process, not an event. At what date did we personally stop choosing which training manuals to use, or approving every pound of expenditure, or every bit of marketing literature?

The answer is, of course, it all happens gradually.

Some things, of course, you never give up - in my own case, testing the quality of the bacon rolls we give customers in the middle of the morning is something for which I like to take personal responsibility.

Taking on another office, in another location, however, is something different - it's an event, not a process.

It really is a sudden change in your business. No longer can you pop next door to discuss something. You can't be in two places at once. It forces a different approach. It raises issues about delegation, organisation, communication between staff, as well as, of course, the issues about reaching customers in a new location. And by definition it's not gradual.

We in Learning IT have just opened new premises in the Ca'd'Oro Building in Glasgow. Being a business in predominantly face-to-face training, our premises are enormously important, so choosing the right place and fitting it well is vital.

But that's now done. We have found the place and signed the lease. Having done it before, we are quicker at it now.

We are now starting the real challenge - making sure we get over the staging post on the growth road of being in two locations.

Of course, our offices are pretty close to each other. We can get into both in the space of a day withoutt spending ages traveling.

It is not that far from Stirling to Glasgow, although, strangely, it is much further in the opposite direction. However, that's another story.

Duncan Macleod is co-founder and managing director of Learning IT, which was the winner of the Business a.m. Gazelle Award 2002.