China Tariffs, Hypergrowth, and Becoming a Better Delegator
More Tariffs for China on the Horizon
Negotiations between China and the United States seem to have it another standstill, causing President Trump to announce a plan to “impose a 10 percent tariff on an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese imports next month”. A sign of only further escalation in the now year-long trade war, this latest announcement comes as a bit of a surprise. Just a couple of months ago President Trump agreed to “not to impose more tariffs” after his meeting with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.
However, that agreement seems to have gone to the wayside now that China has failed to purchase more American agricultural products and has also failed to “stem the flow of fentanyl” into America.
This announcement from President Trump would increase the already in place levies, which imposed 25 percent on more than $250 billion worth of Chinese imports. Nearly every product sent from China to the United States would be impacted, causing many to believe that China will continue to retaliate, causing the two leading global economies to continue battling in the trade dispute without any end in sight.
40x-ing Your Business: 3 Steps to Get Started
If doubling your business sounds good, how about taking it to forty times where it’s at right now? A huge goal, one that most businesses wouldn't even dream of, scaling your business, even to just five or ten times its current revenue, is something every entrepreneur and business owner should have their sites on. Of course, knowing which steps to take to get from 1 to 40 isn’t always easy. (If it was, every business would be wildly successful.)
Back in 2012, Holly Thaggard, the founder of the sunscreen company Supergoop, wouldn’t have believed that 40x-ing her business was possible. But, just a few years later, that’s exactly what she did. Her situation was, like all stories of success, totally unique. But, there were a few smart steps she took that helped her achieve the $40 million in sales she has tracked to date.
Find Smart Investors. Although she wasn’t actively looking for investors in Supergoop, Thaggard was always open to new ideas. Willing to take meetings with lots of different people in order to help her business grow, she happened into a conversation with John Kenney, a partner at TSG Consumer Partners in San Francisco. Although a private equity firm uninterested in the $1 million in sales she had made, Kenney himself was interested in her vision, putting up $100,000 of his own money. So, when the private equity veteran at the helm of TSG decided to leave and start his own firm, JMK Consumer Growth Partners, Thaggard, who had invested in Thaggard two years before, immediately knew that Supergoop would be an ideal fit. And it was. In 2015 JMK invested $4 million of a $6.5 million round in Supergoop, giving the business the kickstart it needed to maximize its growth and, not to mention, “a new high-level person on the team--who doesn't get a salary”.
Be Willing to Relocate. Although based in San Antonio, Kenney and JMK knew that Supergoop needed to be able to draw a different type of person to the company, ones that weren’t readily available in Texas. Thaggard agreed and Supergoop’s New York City office opened shortly after.
Don’t Be Afraid of New Leadership. "What makes founders so great as entrepreneurs only very rarely makes them the best person to run a business once it gets into the tens of millions of dollars," Kenney says. Wanting to keep Thaggard in a role that allowed her to focus on product innovation and “general evangelizing”, the next step was to find a new president. Although scary at first, Thaggard says that the “notion became liberating” - and it’s a big reason why her company was able to get to where it is today.
Delegate Better, Transform Your Business
Most business owners and bosses understand the importance of delegation, but that doesn’t mean they know how to do it effectively. Not only is proper delegation important to the growth of any business, but it’s important for everyone on the team. The more you delegate, the more you prepare everyone for what’s next.
The majority of leaders who don’t delegate avoid the task because it takes time. And, while that’s true, you have to remember to look at the bigger picture: Taking the time to delegate tasks now will free up so much more of your time down the road. Delegation is an investment, one that makes your company more productive and your employees more competent.
To start becoming a better delegator, identity the two types of tasks that really need to be delegated to the rest of your team. Those include:
Tasks not in your skillset. While you can take the time to do these tasks, the reality is that there is someone out there who is better, more qualified, and more proficient than you are. Rather than spending your time, have an expert do the job instead.
Tasks everyone can do. Identify all of those tasks that you could easily teach anyone to do. While they might have become part of your routine, there’s no reason to hold onto them.
Once these tasks have been identified, start delegating! Find someone on your team, or hire someone (even a virtual assistant), to start taking these items off your plate. Remember, the more you delegate, the stronger your business as a whole becomes.