Competition is inevitable. Regardless of the product or service you provide or the industry you serve, you’re going to run into other entrepreneurs and companies offering something similar.

Delegating responsibility to capable employees can be the best course of action for most entrepreneurs. Sometimes, though, it can be a disaster. Only by immersing yourself in your product and your team will you gain the understanding needed to lead and motivate the people working for you. That way, when it is time to delegate responsibility, you won't risk delegating tasks to the wrong person. Reason: You'll have already worked alongside that person and learned his or her strengths and weaknesses.

You may have heard or read the phrase “core competency” lately and wondered if it's the latest example of meaningless corporate lingo, or at best another buzzword representing a basic concept that could be described much more simply. The answer is not exactly. Core competency actually holds significant importance for entrepreneurs and small-business owners.

During the last recession, companies that were best at engaging their employees, in part by providing the training they needed to move forward in their careers, enjoyed profit gains of 26 percent, compared to losses of 14 percent at companies that were worst at engagement. That outperformance continued as the economy recovered.