Today I invite you to start thinking about what it would be like to be released from the traditional trappings of a growing business…totally free from the day-to-day operations of your business with a second-in-command that you trust.
Think about what your days would be like if you were focused solely on using your unique brilliance and spending your time on exponential growth, brainstorming and implementing ways to impact more people and enjoy financial freedom.
How about scaling to a million or more while living an ideal lifestyle (14 to 16 weeks of unplugged vacations per year), no long hours dealing with files, emails or tedious tasks that drain your energy?
Sounds wonderful, right?
Yes, but how do you get there from here?
Let’s first address the fact that you didn’t start your business or decide to grow it further only to work more evenings and weekends, giving up your freedom and your life. You probably also didn’t intend to create a business that is giving you the laptop lifestyle.
Here’s the thing you are likely experiencing now: the business has grown, but your lifestyle has not grown. Your freedom has not grown, and you (yes you!) have become the bottleneck in your business.
You are the bottleneck, and this is causing delays.
It’s causing overwhelm and frustration. Even if you have a team, and even if you have some systems in place, you are probably still too involved in the day-to-day. You may feel trapped, but it’s also causing delays.
The business cannot and will not grow further with you in it so much. Besides, the pace is probably not sustainable for the long term – many people burn out at this stage and some even give up.
So what do you do now?
Well, let’s admit that you’ve become the bottleneck and let’s get clear on exactly what aspects of your business you are still too involved with. We’re gonna take the bottleneck assessment, and that will give us some clues.
The Bottleneck Assessment
Pull out your journal and ask yourself the following:
=> What specific aspects of your business are you still too involved with, creating a bottleneck because everything has to pass through you?
Make a list with space in between for each aspect of your business and list specifically what you are still doing in each area. These are some categories I suggest: Marketing, Sales, Delivery/Fulfillment, Operations, Finance, Customer Service, Hiring/HR.
Add any others that are relevant to your business; you will probably be surprised at how much you’re still doing. Next let’s look at how it’s affecting both your business and your life.
Bottleneck Repercussions
Now that we’re a bit clearer on where you are acting as a bottleneck in your business, ask yourself these questions:
=> How specifically is being too involved in your business affecting or preventing business growth?
=> How specifically is it affecting your personal life?
When you get really specific and can see these effects on paper, you’ll see that while you may have the best motives for wanting to be involved, it’s ultimately having a negative impact on both you and your business.
Starting to see what’s not working, but unsure what to do differently? That’s exactly what we’re here for, to help you step out of the day to day to reclaim your freedom.
Book a free exploratory session with one of my heart-centered strategy coaches so we can help you look at where to start, map out a plan, answer your questions and see if we might be a good fit for supporting you in scaling your business.
The call is completely free, and without obligation, so there’s no reason to wait. This simple conversation is a chance for us to get to know you better, hear more about your business and your needs; it could be the one that changes everything.
Let’s chat sooner rather than later. Just fill out the boxes below and let’s book that call:
