Your business feels like a dinner party and you’re stuck in the kitchen

Ever host a dinner party that got a little out of hand?

People keep showing up, someone’s asking where the glasses are, another person has wandered into the kitchen with opinions and before you know it, you’re wondering whose idea it was to have a dinner party.

ANNNND, that’s basically what it’s like owning a business…

If you let it!

Here’s how you can fix it! 

Part 1: You don’t have to cook every dish

Hosting doesn’t mean you have to do everything, it means you have to be aware of the moving parts, and make sure everything gets done. 

Don’t cook everything! Ask people to bring things, order parts of it, set it up in advance so you’re not stuck in the kitchen all night long…

Basically… DELEGATE!

Same thing with your business. 

You don’t have to do all the things! Start handing off the small things, even if it’s not perfect at first. 

The goal isn’t for someone to do it better than you did it, the goal is for you not to do it all yourself. 

I know, I know, easier said than done.

Here’s some quick tips to take the leap to delegate: 

1. Look for the repeat stuff

Think about what happens every single time you host and make a list. 

• You set the table

• You make the food

• You put drinks out

• You serve

• You clean up

• You serve desert

• You clean up again

It’s the same flow every time. 

Most things in your business are the same. There’s repeat things that you do… write them down!

2. Write the recipe down

When you cook something you’ve made before, you don’t just wing it. You probably have the recipe nailed down… measurements, steps, timing… 

BUT, if that is nailed down in your brain, you need to write it down! Even if you’ve made it 100 times, having a clear easy to follow recipe eliminates extra work for your brain. You remove the need to recall and remember all the steps. It removes possible errors. 

You guessed it - same thing goes for your business. Write out all the steps so you or someone else can follow them later. 

Doesn’t need to be fancy. 

3. Set things up so you’re not needed for every little thing

At a dinner party, you don’t want to be answering little questions all night while someone’s just trying to help you…

• Where are the glasses?

• What drinks do you have?

• Where is the ice?

So set things up in advance!

Make a drink station - glasses, ice bucket, selection of drinks - voila, questions eliminated. People can help themselves without needing you every five minutes.

What does this look like in business? Make sure people have the tools and resources they need:

• Access to SOPS

• Logins set up 

• Templates to use

• Permissions given

• Links provided

If you set them up for success from the beginning, you eliminate the “where is this” or “how do I access that?”

Set things up so people don’t need you for every question, decision, or next step.

You’re still involved, you’re just not doing everything. 

Part 2: You set the tone of the room

At a dinner party, people take their cues from you.

Are you relaxed, greeting people, letting them settle in… or are you running around stressed trying to manage everything?

That energy spreads fast.

Same thing in your business… clients, team members, and collaborators pick up on what’s normal really quickly.

• If everything feels rushed, unclear, or reactive, that’s what they respond to.

• If things feel clear, structured, and consistent, they respond to that too.

1. Set boundaries early

Figure out how you want your dinner party to run and what details matter. 

• What time should people arrive?

• What time will dinner be served?

• Do you need to know if people have food restrictions?

• Is there an end time that people need to leave by?

You decide that ahead of time .

And you do that in your business too (shocking, I know). 

You determine response times, meeting availability, what’s included in your work, communication methods etc.... ahead of time, not when your client asks. 

2. Say the expectations out loud

You set the timing for the dinner party, but then you have to tell people. Maybe you do it verbally, maybe you send an invitation, but you need to communicate the details that matter to you!

They don’t magically know, you tell them what time to arrive, what time dinner’s starting and if there’s an end point.

When they show up, you tell them there’s a drink station, help themselves. 

In business you do the exact same thing. 

Everyone has different standards, parameters, expectations, communication methods - you can’t assume people will work the same way as you, so you have to tell them what your way of working is. 

• What does done look like?

• How can people reach you?

• What’s your turn around time?

Communicate these up front so that there’s no guessing. 

The host should enjoy the party too

If you’re stuck in the kitchen the entire night, you’re doing it wrong. 

If you plan to wing it every time, you’ll most likely spend the night in a cycle of chaos. But, if you take the mental burden off yourself and plan & set it up, you’ll get to enjoy yourself.

The night shouldn’t depend on you being everywhere at once.

If you’ve done it right, things keep moving, you’re not being pulled in every direction so you can actually have a drink and enjoy it.