As many of you know, I started my career in the sciences. I was a lab tech in medical research and environmental analysis. I set up and managed a laboratory. I bought the equipment for the lab, set up the processes, trained the employees, and oversaw the analysis quality. I evaluated software, wrote help systems and even learned HTML well enough to write much of my manuals directly into the code (NOTE – there were no WYSISYG editors in those days).
In one job, on the day I was hired I was given a bunch of computer parts and told, “if you can build a computer from these parts, you can stay”. I was not a computer tech, but I figured it out by making a lot of new friends very quickly.
Tech has change a lot since then, and this means I am not an expert when it comes to something new. I can learn it… but why? If I am the business owner, and the manager of my people, and I also am the tech, then my business can never grow. I need people to do the other work.
This past week, the company, Pibworth Professional Solutions, that manages the back-end of my website, did an Accessibility Audit to ensure my site meets new regulations and it doesn’t break when the internet requirements change. When the report came back there were a few issues that needed to be corrected, I went into the HTML and started looking round. I could see the places that the report pointed out and I could see the issues. I knew the hex codes for my brand colours, I knew what needed to be changed. I could read the CSS files. I can make the changes…..
WAIT! What am I doing?
I have so many other priorities on my plate, playing in HTML was ridiculous, especially since we now do have WYSIWIG editors. I don’t do any of this work in my role as the business owner. I have people that can do this for me, faster and more accurately than I can.
I immediately responded to Pibworth to, “please go ahead and make the required repairs.”
It is one of the best investments I’ve made this month, saving me half-a-day, or more, for under $400. And, in my extra time I wrote this article.
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should! [1]
Just because I could find the problem, and fix it, doesn’t mean I should spend my time doing that. If you want a business that can Run Without You, you must learn to let go of the things that other people can do better than you. Start with the small things and learn to trust that your team has your back.
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[1] Attributed to multiple authors, as well as anonymous
This article is 100% original content – The articles you read in this blog are 100% created by Barb Stuhlemmer, not by AI. © 2025 Barb Stuhlemmer
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