By Jessica O. Swink
Editor, Small Business Insight
Photo by Paul Chin, Jr.
Chantel Ray refers to herself as the “master delegator.”
“It’s one thing I’m really passionate about,” Ray says. “Some business owners don’t know how to delegate and try to do everything themselves.”
Ray says this comes from the idea that the owner may have that he or she can do the job better. Instead of harboring this attitude, she trains others to do certain tasks and says that they can do the job just as well, or even better.
“I focus on the whole, big pie. Everything that I don’t have to do myself, I delegate — cleaning, laundry, etc. — and I only do what I’m really good at doing,” Ray says.
Those things, she says, include leading, managing, marketing and creating incentives to motivate her 26-member team.
By conducting personality testing to make sure she puts her employees in positions that use their strengths, she is sure that her employees are doing what they love. This process has proven quite successful, as she has seen 30 percent consistent revenue growth for the past six years.
Ray also has detailed systems for every job description and is dedicated to: being flexible to change with what the times demand, staying committed to re-invest in her marketing and advertising, and giving back 23 percent of this year’s revenue.
Each year she hopes to increase the amount she gives back by 3 percent until she is giving away 90 percent of her income and living on 10 percent. In her business plan, this will happen when she is 56. This year, she will donate 23 percent of her income to the People In Need (PIN) Ministry.
“I truly love every part of my job, and if I don’t love it, I delegate. That’s what makes a strong leader,” Ray says. “You can never delegate too much, as long as you are delegating to the right person.”
- Who were the other 2011 SBI Minerva Award Honorees? Click here to find out!
