Why everything in your business still runs through you (and how to change it)
A few years in, the business is real. There are clients, revenue, maybe a small team. But you're still doing everything. The phone rings and it's for you. A problem comes up and it waits for you. You can't remember your last real holiday, and the thought of taking one comes with a knot in your stomach about what you'd come back to.
That isn't a capability problem. It's a structure problem. Here's why it happens, and four steps to change it.
The signs you're the bottleneck
- →Your team waits for you before they act, even on small things.
- →Work slows down or stops when you're out of the office.
- →You redo work rather than explain what you wanted.
- →Your diary is full of other people's problems.
- →Growth feels like more of the same, only heavier.
If three or more of those sound familiar, the business has outgrown the way you built it.
Why it happens
In the early years, being in every decision is the reason the business works. You know the customers, the quality standard and the numbers better than anyone. The habits that built the business quietly become its ceiling. It usually comes down to three things:
- →Decisions live in your head. Nobody else can make them because nobody else knows how you make them.
- →Responsibility without authority. People are given the task but not the right to decide, so everything comes back to you.
- →No rhythm. Without a regular time to raise issues, every question becomes urgent and lands on you immediately.
Step 1: Write down the decisions you make
For two weeks, keep a list of every question that comes to you and every decision you make. At the end, sort them into three groups:
- →Only you can make this decision.
- →Someone else could make it with a clear guideline.
- →Someone else should own it entirely.
Most owners find the first group is far smaller than they expected. The second group is where the time goes, and it's the easiest to fix: write the guideline once, and the decision leaves your desk for good.
Step 2: Hand over ownership in stages
Handing over a whole area at once rarely works. Handing it over in stages does. Agree with each person which stage they're at for each type of decision:
- →Stage 1: Look into it and recommend what to do. I decide.
- →Stage 2: Decide, then tell me what you decided.
- →Stage 3: Decide. Only tell me if something goes wrong.
Move people up a stage as their judgment proves itself. Being clear about the stage removes most of the guesswork, for them and for you.
Step 3: Build a weekly rhythm
A short weekly meeting does more to reduce interruptions than any amount of delegation. Keep it simple: the key numbers, this week's priorities, and the decisions that need you. Ask your team to bring problems with a proposed answer, and to save non-urgent questions for the meeting. Within a month, the constant interruptions start to fade.
Step 4: Protect time to work on the business
Block a fixed half-day each week to work on the business rather than in it, and treat it like a client meeting you can't move. That's where the guidelines get written, the structure gets built and the next stage gets planned.
What I learned in the franchise
In 2011 I bought a B2B franchise that had just lost its number one client, half of its turnover. Rebuilding it meant restructuring the business, rebuilding the product range and service offering, and putting sales at the centre of everything. Within four years it was named Franchise of the Year. The lesson I carried from it: structure is what lets a business grow past its owner.
Where to start this week
Start the decision list tomorrow. If you want to see how wide the gap is first, the free Founder Gap Score takes four minutes and scores your business across Strategy, Revenue, People and You. And if you'd rather work through it with someone in your corner, that's exactly what 1:1 business coaching is for. For established owners preparing to step back or exit, the Elite CEO Partnership goes further, with a full business audit and systems build.
Jeremiah Akladious has run businesses for 30 years, including a B2B franchise turnaround to Franchise of the Year. He coaches and mentors business owners from Sydney, across Australia and worldwide.
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