Why You Should Eventually Make Yourself Less Vital To Your Business
As a business owner who may have initially started by doing absolutely everything yourself, you may be used to being indispensable to the business. It’s often a good feeling to know that you’re so valued and that the success of your business depends on your hard work, intuition, and expertise. But it’s often not the best long-term strategy. Here, we’re going to look at some key reasons why it’s a good idea to start pulling back eventually, and how you can do it.
Burnout Can Become Inevitable
A lot of people thrive under the stress and pressure of knowing that their own success depends on their hard work, and are happy to give it their all, especially if it means enjoying all of the rewards later. However, finding yourself going that hard for your business all of the time is going to eventually lead to burnout. There is no two ways about it. The human body and mind begin to suffer the effects of chronic stress in a way that can eventually cause the whole body to suffer. As such, learning how to delegate is key.
Give Your Team The Chance To Step Up
If you are indispensable to your business, then you could take the opportunities for growth and investment away from your employees. Make sure that you’re continually training your team, not just in new skills, but in being able to handle new responsibilities. Team members who feel like they are being trusted with parts of the business also tend to value the business that they’re in, whereas employees with no room to grow may feel like they’re in a dead-end job, leaving eventually.
Keep Your Exit Strategy Open
At some point, you may decide that you want to move on to new ventures, or even to retire, but you don’t want your business to collapse behind you. Growing a strong team and a set of internal processes and policies that allow it to run better without you is key if you plan to sell a business. It’s not enough that your business is successful; potential buyers want to see that it can continue to succeed and grow even if you’re not there and someone else takes the helm.
Put Yourself In A Place To Watch It Grow
Even if you’re not planning to sell the business but rather to scale it, for instance, you want to still be able to take a step back from doing everything yourself. Running a bigger business naturally demands that you’re able to slip into a role that’s more focused on planning, strategy, and leadership. If your business and team are going to expand, you need to start systematizing your processes so that newcomers (or people stepping up into management roles) are able to start doing what you do right now.
There’s nothing wrong with having pride in what you built through your own hard work, but eventually, it makes more sense to start pulling back. Hopefully, the points above show you a path forward to a different kind of entrepreneurship.
