July 11, 2024
After working with many businesses over the years, I see the same 3 issues holding founders back from growth.
And the solutions are always the same.
1. The first is time wasted on annoying, repetitive manual tasks.
The problem only isn’t the time that’s wasted, but how draining they are to execute, over and over again.
Common examples are the processes involved with customer onboarding.
You…
- send the onboarding email
- create & send the invoice
- send the contract
- update the CRM
- etc.
These are the opposite of energizing. Maybe not for your first few clients, but they get old pretty quickly. And there are many other examples (I’m sure you can think of a few).
What’s the solution? Automation. Effectively eliminating them from your radar.
Not everything can or should be automated (I recognize that), but a lot can.
2. The second is nervous delegation.
The subconscious fears that come from delegation are a huge blocker of growth.
The fear of not knowing if processes…
- got done when they should
- got done as they should
- got done at all
These open loops will either eat you alive and take up all of your mental energy, or you’ll hesitate to delegate leaving you stuck.
Don’t fall in love with the idea of solopreneurship. Most “solopreneurs” at least have assistants or contractors they rely on (trust me). Plus, having a team is a lot more fun.
So, what’s the solution? An accountability system. One that includes…
- who owns what
- what “done” looks like
- a simple submission system
3. The last thing holding back most founders is the problems (projects) they work on.
Automation and delegation buy back your time. But then, what do you do with that time?
There’s an unlimited number of problems you and your team can focus on. Real growth happens when we work on the right problems via well-defined projects.
How do we do this? With meetings every 60-90 days where we reflect on the previous cycle, assess priorities, and identify the few key projects (problems) worth prioritizing.
A project management system to track progress helps a lot.
Address these 3 and you’ll begin to experience progress:
- manual tasks → automated processes
- nervous delegation → accountability system
- no clarity on direction → a few well-defined projects
I suggest you handle these issues one at a time, from top to bottom. If the first is solid (no time wasted on annoying manual tasks), move on to the next.
See you all next Thursday 👋
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