Icon Insurance specialises in insurance policies for smaller and growing businesses: cover for the home office, small office-based business insurance, Professional Indemnity cover (including SecurITy for IT professionals) and Lawsuit legal expenses cover. Our products and services are available on-line and/or off-line to businesses and residents of the United Kingdom

On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped out onto the moon and uttered one of the most famous phrases in history: 'One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.' But how he got there is a template for delegation.

Back at the start of the space race, Kennedy didn't say, 'I wonder if we could get to the moon?' He said 'I want to land men on the moon by the end of the decade.'

He then gave this vision to a team of people and let them run with it, acting like any managing director of a small business. Why? Because, he did not plan the rocket. Nor did he choose the astronauts. He certainly didn't hire the welders. He set the goal, delegated the task to other people, and then worked in the background to ensure they had the tools and the money to make his vision happen.

You may be a one-man band, but you can still operate like Kennedy, getting other people, even freelances, to make your dream happen. But how do you do it successfully?

'But it never works!'

Delegating always works when the delegating itself is done well. The task will probably be done differently from the way you would do it, but as long as the outcome is to your brief, then you cannot complain. However, it is no good throwing someone in at the deep end and expecting great results.