If you have been in the tea business for a few years and have survived the last couple, you have likely vaulted over some pretty high hurdles. Congratulations! Many small businesses never make it to where you are - many never make it out of the first year, sadly.

Now you have to decide whether to stand pat and keep the status quo or to venture forth embrace growth and all the challenges it might bring. For the small business owner the most difficult part of this embrace if delegating what one might consider "sacred tasks."

A true entrepreneur can have strong do-it-yourself tendencies and while you may have been able to hire servers and a manager or two, and most likely had to hire out for web site design, you probably are holding on to some hats you should consider passing to others. Depending on the size of your business, it might be time to let these go. If your strongest skills are not being utilized to the fullest because your time is consumed by duties that can be handled by others, it might be time to outsource or train a trusted, capable employee.

Of course this all comes down to cost and potential risk if the task is payroll or some other accounting duty, but freeing yourself up to manage and innovate versus micro managing, the payoff could be big. If freeing up this time spent on tasks that could be done by others means greater supervision of your business and perhaps getting to neglected areas that could use revision, seriously consider reassigning them. Set time to "audit" these tasks so you will know if they are being done accurately and provide peace of mind.