Business development and relationship building are two of the most important skills you need to create a great practice. Of course, finding the time to devote to these tasks can be one of the biggest challenges you face. You're often pulled this way and that way between back-office problems, staff issues and client opportunities, significantly impacting your business' progress and profitability.

THE FOUR D'S

Happily, you can avoid nearly all these distractions by applying the rule of the four D's to every task, in this order:

* Drop it. If there is no compelling business reason to spend time on a task, drop it. You can nearly always drop non-revenue-generating activities.

* Defer it. If you are unsure whether a task will benefit your clients or your practice, defer it. Schedule a time to reevaluate it, and make a decision at that time to drop it, delegate it or do it.

* Delegate it. When a task lies clearly outside of your core competencies, delegate it to a staff person or to an outsourcing partner.

* Do it. If a task is part of your core competencies, and if none of the previous three D's are appropriate, then-and only then-do it.

WHAT TO DELEGATE

It's the third D-delegate-that is becoming particularly important for today's top advisors. Those who run their practices most effectively are delegating just about every function that's outside of their core competency involved in helping clients solve their most pressing financial challenges.

To delegate at a high level that gets results, you'll need to outsource at least some of your business functions. Outsourcing is critical because it allows you to do more of what really matters-building relationships with your existing clients, fostering your relationships with outside experts who are part of your team and starting relationships with potential clients. Spending more time with these people leads to more revenues and profits for you.

There are two options. The first is to outsource everything you can to your wirehouse, your broker-dealer or a turnkey asset management program. However, if a financial institutional partner cannot meet all your needs, you can turn to the second option-delegating specific non-core functions to independent providers on an as-needed basis.

The first step is to identify what you can call on others to do. You must decide which tasks you will do yourself, which ones you will rely on an institutional partner to do and which ones you will need independent contractors to perform. Start by reviewing your business processes and procedures to identify the specific tasks that would be more effectively (or profitably) completed by an outsourcing partner than by an in-house staffer. The most successful advisors frequently delegate advanced planning, business development, back office, compliance, technology, public relations and team building.

THE FREELANCE ROUTE

Today, more advisors are turning to independent contractors-freelancers-to perform tasks outside client relations. Independent contractors are often more focused and committed to completing projects successfully than employees. This leads to higher profit margins and better quality control.

Even though independent contractors offer many advantages, they also present new challenges when it comes to finding, hiring and managing. With that in mind, here's a three-step process to use:

STEP 1: PLAN

The first step is to plan. Advisors must define their needs and required skills, and anticipate any problems.

* Define your needs. Decide exactly what you will outsource. Pull together the current costs of doing each function in-house. Be clear on the results you hope to achieve by outsourcing (such as lower costs, better performance, enhanced service or overall responsiveness). If it's a large outsourcing project, design a request for proposal (RFP) that includes performance metrics, evaluation criteria, a scoring process and a financial model to evaluate price or cost.

* Define the needed skills. Determine the specific skills that you will need in an independent contractor before you start searching for one. Most individuals specialize, so don't expect to find a broad range of diverse skills in any one person (and if you do, expect to pay very well for it).

* Anticipate issues. Take a moment to think through how delegating this particular function will affect your business. If necessary, act to head off any potential problems.

STEP 2: SELECT

After you have finished planning, it's time to select an independent contractor. Advisors should obtain referrals, interview candidates, check references and make sure the contractor is a good fit with existing staff.