The Art of Delegation: Why Letting Go is the Key to Growth, Freedom, and More Time with Ral West | 468

0:00Ral West:Well, oftentimes I hear, oh, I don't have time to set up that system. That is going to take too long. And then my response is, okay, you don't want to take the time now because you really love spending all that time in the future. So you don't want to save any time in the future. And, you know, the old thing about you spend a little bit of time now, you've saved a ton of time down the road. There is a little, you know, fable about the guy who's chopping down a tree and he's working so hard and sweating and everything. and somebody comes along and says, oh my God, you're working so hard, but it kind of looks like your ax is dull.

0:35Ral West:Why don't you sharpen it? And the guy goes, can't you see I'm busy chopping down this tree? I don't have time to sharpen my ax. So the moral of the story is, for God's sakes, sharpen your ax. You know, take the time. You know, set up a little system. Yes, it's going to take a little bit of time now, but then how many hours or days have you saved in the future? Do you make good money but have nothing to show for it? Are you tired of living paycheck to paycheck? Do you have big dreams for your financial future? Do you want to get debt free but you don't want to live on beans and rice? Or you don't want to give up those pumpkin spice lattes?

1:11Hey, it's okay if you don't already know how to budget or if you're using credit cards to get through the month. Hey, it's okay if you want to seem like you have your finances all together or you're not on the same page with your spouse when it comes to finances. We know what you're doing probably isn't working. But guess what? You're in the right place. We're Shana and Vanessa. We're best friends, business partners, and master financial coaches trained by Dave Ramsey. We've been in business since 2019, helping hundreds of amazing people like you create budgets, get out of debt, stop living paycheck to paycheck, and know exactly what to do with their money.

1:44In this podcast, we'll share with you everything we know, plus everything we're working on with our clients so that you have the best chance at reaching your financial goals. We want to help you take the guesswork out of your budget, improve your marriages, and even bring your kids in on the conversation. We can help you no matter where you're at, whether you're the single mom who's never had$500 in her savings account or the millionaire who's paid off four real estate mortgages. And we're not going to shy away from the tough love. We'll tell you what you need to hear and encourage you at the same time.

2:12This is the Financial Coaching for Women podcast. We are so excited to have our pal Raoul on with us today. We know each other through a different coaching program. And we are excited to see what she has to bring you guys, our audience today. Yeah.

2:28Ral West:Hi. Yeah. I'm Raoul West. And my mission is to teach owners of businesses how to have the life that they really want so that they're living their life and their dream and the business doesn't own them. I know. I love all the words you just said. before we started recording, you said, I'm going on a month long vacation. I am. So I think that you being able to be a complete example of what you teach, I think is so important. Well, yeah. You said that after you told us that you're, you know, you're getting, you're wrapping up 52 podcasts in a year and you have your mastermind and your course. And then also we're traveling a lot.

3:09And so, and we especially like that because we know a lot of our audience, they, a lot of them are entrepreneurs or business owners. And And it can definitely take over your life. It can definitely be the thing that sort of dwarfs everything else. But you're trying to teach something different.

3:26Ral West:Absolutely. I believe that you build a business to support your lifestyle, not the other way around. And if there's something that comes up and it doesn't fit in my idea of living the dream, then I don't do it. So, you know, yeah, but no, I love that. And this all started decades ago because I've been an entrepreneur for over 40 years. So two or three decades ago, I was pretty much the epitome of the operator of a business that my husband and I own. And we were in the day-to-day. We were in the trenches. We were doing everything. And our family life was suffering. Our relationship was suffering.

4:06Ral West:I was overweight and out of shape and all that stuff. It was kind of miserable. And it had to change. So that's when I learned that I needed to be able to create systems and learn how to delegate and, you know, develop a team and a culture that would be able to carry the business without our constant involvement. And so it took a while for us to get that all implemented. But then once we did, we bought our second home on Maui and bought a yacht and started traveling and the business grew even more. I think that is so interesting because, you know, a lot of our women are. We speak to a lot of people who are entrepreneurs, who are building their own businesses.

4:45But I come from a line of entrepreneurs and my family, it's really sometimes swallowed the vision of our family because it took so much of my parents watching and looking back on what that business required. And I love my parents. I love everything that they've sacrificed to get us to where we are today. But I also look back and think, I think they could have done things differently and just served themselves better. I just don't think that they knew how. I think they were so stuck in the trenches of it all. They couldn't see beyond that. And it really, I think, hindered some parts of their finances.

5:24I mean, like everything.

5:25Ral West:Their health. Yeah. Their health, 100%. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I know. I'm healthier today than I was three decades ago and more energetic. Wow. You know, so that's so interesting that you said that, you know, because there's so many different ways that you get everything muddied up, right? You're, you're working so much that your health obviously takes a back seat. Your finances, a lot of times we find the finances are all mixed up and messed up. And so that's not good. So where do you kind of start with people to see, you know, to start to unravel or untangle that mess? Well, it starts with creating some systems.

6:01Ral West:systems and and i don't mean really complicated grandiose systems it can be as simple as just taking stock of what you're doing every day you know what are the tasks that occupy your time and see if if those can be organized in a different way how can you chunk them down maybe get some automation to help you get some it can something be delegated to someone else a virtual assistant or part-time you know whatever whatever your situation is if you have staff and a team. Maybe there's people that can do more than they're doing right now. But it also involves learning how to let go just a little bit.

6:37But in order to let go comfortably, you need to be very

6:42Ral West:good at delegating. And there's an art to delegating. And I find that most people don't know what that art is. And so their idea of delegating is, well, I told so-and-so to do something, you know, such and such. And then they didn't do it right. So damn it, I just have to do it myself in order to get it done right. Have you heard that before? Or they didn't get it done in the three seconds that they wanted them to get it done. And so therefore to them, it wasn't done properly. So it's like learning how to, like you said, get away from that sense of control, but also knowing and feeling comfortable that it's going to get done.

7:17But you have to allow that to happen.

7:20Ral West:Well, it's not just allowing it to happen. There's a system for delegating. So you have to be very, very clear about what your outcome is that you want, when you want it done, what it looks like when it's done properly. And you can allow them to get to that end result in any way that works for them. The important thing is that you have a clear picture of the outcome that you want and the deadline. And then once you pass that off and you've got everything, you give them the tools so that they can do the job that you want done. And then you check back. You build in a feedback loop so that if it's a big project and it needs to be done within a month, then maybe once a week you check in and say, how's that going?

8:04Ral West:Do you need any support? Tell me what progress you've made so far. And basically, the rule is you haven't delegated successfully until the project or the task is done to your satisfaction. So you have to stick with it and just kind of not oversee it and not micromanage it, but you have to follow through and follow up. And I think that's the part that people don't do. And they don't clearly spell out the outcome that they want. And so then what they get is whatever they get. So if you follow these little simple rules and treat it as a system for delegating, your results will be much better. Why do you think people don't follow through?

8:47Do you think it's just because they get too busy or they don't have the time or they feel like they don't have the time? Because, you know, obviously they're getting more time by doing this and having it done by somebody else, but they don't take the time to set up a delegation process. Yeah.

9:02Ral West:And they might not be organized enough to, you know, have a reminder on their task list to do the follow-ups. So they might forget about it. Or maybe they don't understand the importance of following through. They just assume that once I've delegated it, oh, it's going to be done. And then later they find out, oh, my God, it wasn't done. You know, but that that's all comes back to them. You know, the old fish stick with the head thing. I can speak from personal experience. What it is is you're like, oh, I offloaded. I got five minutes back in my schedule by offloading this thing. Let me fill it or double fill immediately.

9:37Immediately. So that I don't and I didn't actually get it off my schedule, to your point. I have not delegated until I followed through for a while to make sure that it's working. That sounds familiar. All right, budget besties. It's time for some Real Talk. You don't need another budget. You need a budget system. Our simplified budget system is what you've been looking for. It's going to allow you to be bougie on a budget. You'll be able to easily set up a system that runs automatically and shows you exactly where your money is going. and it's going to give you permission to spend. Everybody loves that.

10:12Yeah. It's straightforward, pretty, and packed with walkthrough videos that break down the exact methods we use with our clients to get out of debt, set up a bills account, separate spending, build savings buckets, and end the paycheck to paycheck feel. If you're new to budgeting, this is the perfect way to jump in. And if you're already a budget nerd like us, you're about to meet your new obsession. This is the upgrade to your finances that you need right now. Yeah. So head on over to budgetbesties.com forward slash budget and grab yours. Now back to today's show. Well, I'm also thinking about how much everything that you're saying relates to like literally just making a budget.

10:48Like everything that we tell our clients and we're huge fans of automation and delegation with, you know, one of the things that we like to say is that allow your bank to become your personal assistant. But you have to set it up. You have to make the whole process, see your vision, know the end goal. Like we have a sheet for that. We have our goals and you have to know what that is in order to figure out what you want to do.

11:09Ral West:Yes. Yes. And yeah. And when you automate something, again, it's not just a set it and forget it thing. You do have to follow up on that, too, to make sure that the automation is doing what you want. Are the bills actually being paid or are the things actually getting entered? Like, for example, with financial statements, I have a bookkeeper that I contract with to do all of our financial statements. We have like five LLCs that need financial statements every month, plus our personal. And, you know, we have a system set up for me getting that information to the bookkeeper easily. And then there's a deadline for when those financial statements are due.

11:48Ral West:And the bookkeeper is incentivized to make that deadline, because if they don't make the deadline, they make less money. They get a little bonus if they get it done on time. And then I have to check. I have to review the financials. I have to go through them and make sure that everything looks right. And then I have to communicate the corrections and then remember to follow through to make sure the corrections were done. So yes, it saves me a ton of time, but I can't just, you know, forget about it. You do have to pay attention, but it still saves you tons of time. Well, yes. Speaking of that, that's right there.

12:26That's what we're all looking. I mean, I would say time is probably a hotter commodity than money for most people listening to this. So when you say automations, you know, we're big on automations. That's like at least half of what we teach when it comes to budgeting. What are some successful or good automations or systems that you recommend, that you've seen work well, that you use? Because that probably would really help a lot of our audience out.

12:51Ral West:Yeah, well, there's quite a few of them. Like we were just talking about bookkeeping. So obviously we use QuickBooks online because our bookkeeper is remote. And so anybody who needs to have access to QuickBooks can log in if they have to be a user and have their own password and so forth. And they can log in and do the work. And that's much easier. It's more expensive, but it saves a lot of time and energy. So that's one thing. we use Dropbox as the centralized filing system in the cloud so that anybody can have access to the data that they need, you know, a filing system. So like, for example, all of the receipts that come in during the month, we have a way to title all the files so that the bookkeeper can see the payee, the date, the amount, you know, and what it was for right in the title, and then they just go through and then it all gets entered in QuickBooks from this filing system, centralized.

13:52Ral West:And so that's one thing. For daily tasks, I use an app called OmniFocus and it's old. I've used it for over 10 years, which makes it old.

14:06Ral West:There's tons of new ones. So I'm not saying that this is the latest and greatest, but it really works well for me. It's quite a robust task manager. It's not the kind of app like Trello and the other kinds of sauna where you've got team collaborations. It's just for me. And it syncs with all my devices. I have like four or five different devices between iPhones and iPads and different computers and so forth. And so everything in their syncs, would I get an email that needs some follow through? All I have to do is forward that email to this special email address and it pops right into the app. So that's when I'm able to keep up with all the things that I need to follow through on.

14:49Ral West:Like I asked somebody to do something in an email, I copy or BCC my app, and then I put it in as a reminder, like, okay, two weeks from now, I need to get back to that person about this thing. Because would I remember otherwise? No, no, no. And I know some people use their little reminders app or make notes or put things on their actual calendar. And it's like, oh, okay, well, good for you. But my life is too complicated to fit in a little box on a little calendar. Well, I love that. And I love, because we have a lot of people who are high level entrepreneurs. So what do you think is that, that mindset shift that separates those who stay overwhelmed, stay in this like overwhelmed, I think of it like no balance or whatever.

15:37Yeah. Yeah. Hamster wheel. Exactly. For those who are actually truly setting something up that is supporting their life and they're building something that they love. Well, oftentimes I hear, oh, I don't have time to set up that system that, that is going to take too long.

15:54Ral West:and and then my response is okay you don't want to take the time now because you really love spending all that time in the future so you don't want to save any time in the future and you know the old thing about you know you spend a little bit of time now you've saved a ton of time down the road there is a little you know fable about the guy who's chopping down a tree and he's working so hard and sweating and everything and somebody comes along and says oh my god you're working so hard, but it kind of looks like your ax is dull. Why don't you sharpen it? And the guy goes, can't you see I'm busy chopping down this tree?

16:29Ral West:I don't have time to sharpen my ax. So the moral of the story is, for God's sakes, sharpen your ax. Take the time. Set up a little system. Yes, it's going to take a little bit of time now, but then how many hours or days have you saved in the future? Here's one small example. I was spending way too much time sorting through emails in my inbox, you know, 50 or whatever number of emails a day, 100. And it's like, oh, this is ridiculous. And I had like two or three different kind of email addresses. And so, you know, I'd be like duplicating my efforts. This is crazy. So I found somebody who was a whiz at AI.

17:10Ral West:And I said, great, find me an AI tool that will organize my email inboxes. and they did. I paid a very small amount of money. They implemented this system. I saved probably at least an hour a day in terms of just, we need that. We're going to, we're going to ask more questions after we get off program your, your incoming emails to the, these go into a box called, you know, now and later and, you know, never. I like more about that. Never. Let's hear So, you know, yeah, then you then you can deal with the things that are that are critical that staying in the main inbox. So we got a couple of nitty gritty.

17:54Tell us overall, like, what are the what are the steps or the categories kind of that you take your your business owners through to kind of get through from the very, you know, not balanced to where you want them to be, where they're enjoying their life and they have a business? Yeah.

18:12Ral West:Well, there are six principles that I teach. And I came up with these principles because I kind of did an inventory of my 40 years in business and asked myself, okay, what were the things that really moved the needle for us and enabled us to have a business that was so successful that we were purchased by Alaska Airlines? So yeah, there's 25 years in a business, eight digits in annual revenue, and yeah, we sold it. And we wouldn't have been a target for them to purchase it if we didn't have a really solid company where it was not run by a mom and pop. It was run by professional managers. And we had a solid customer base that was very loyal.

18:54Ral West:Alaska Airlines could have just come into our market and wiped us out. But we had paid so much attention to keeping our customers happy and delighted that they were extremely loyal to us. We operated air service between Alaska and Hawaii, and Alaska Airlines wanted to get into that market. So he said, fine, buy us. So that's what happened. So those six principles, going back to that, I'll just name them off real quickly without going into the details of them. But number one is systems. And number two is track your data, set up your performance measurements so you have reports showing you at all times how your business is doing with your KPIs.

19:33Ral West:And number three, use leverage. Leverage can be delegating. Leverage can be using automation. Leverage can be hiring a firm to do your bookkeeping for you and setting up your budgets for you. Craft your culture intentionally, very intentionally, and then build your team and nurture your team. And all of these things have to support each other. The sixth principle is customer service. And I mean like delighting your customers. and all of these things work together. It's like a six-legged stool. And if you're not doing all of them, it's going to be a little wobbly. And so your business is going to be a little wobbly.

20:12Ral West:So you have to pay attention to all six principles and then repeat, repeat, repeat. Because it's, again, I say, it's not a set it and forget it, one and done. It's a process. And your systems are going to evolve as your business evolves. And as you get more sophisticated with identifying where you need a system, these things evolve. So those are the six principles. And if you keep using them and keep working them, you can't help but be successful. Well, I think we all want to have eight figure businesses that we can sell if possible. So if our listeners are listening and those six principles sound like something that they really would like to get figured out for their business, tell us how they can find you, how they can connect with you and find out more.

20:59Ral West:I would love that. Well, my name is Raoul West and my website is RaoulWest.com. My LinkedIn page is Raoul West. I have a YouTube channel that's called Raoul West. So, wow. I'm supposed to get theme. Yeah. Yeah. I think I learned something about a personal brand and that, you know, your personal brand is me and my reputation and 40 years of being in a series of successful businesses kind of cements that. So yeah. Yeah. And now because of all of that, you have a mastermind and a course, right? Yes. I have an online course and a mastermind that is obviously a deeper dive and more of my time with a small group of seven to eight figure business owners who want to have some life back and you gain some freedom back and get their business up and running so that they don't have to be constantly monitoring it.