Early in my journey as an entrepreneur, I believed I always had to be there. Leading meant being in the building and in front of every customer. The business grew for a while. Then it hit a plateau, and no amount of extra hours seemed to move it.
If that sounds familiar, this Field Note is for you.
Why Being Everywhere Stops Working
When you are the one serving every customer and fixing every problem, the business can only grow as far as you can stretch. Your hours become the ceiling. Showing up is a good thing, and your customers feel it. But at some point, being present for everything is the very thing holding the business in place.
That was where I was when I came across the idea that changed how I led.
The Advice That Changed My Thinking
Michael Gerber put it simply in his book The E-Myth Revisited. If you want to grow, you have to work on your business, not in it. Working in it means doing the daily jobs yourself. Working on it means stepping back to build the business so it runs well, even when you are not behind the counter.
When I took that to heart, two things happened. My team started taking more ownership, because I finally left room for them to step up. And as a leader, I could take the 30,000 foot view. From up there I could see other avenues for growth and development that I had been too busy to notice.
How to Start Working On Your Business This Week
You do not need to disappear from your business to make this shift. You just need to protect a little time to think about it instead of only running it. Here are some places to start.
Block one hour on your calendar. Pick a time when you are not on the floor and treat it like a meeting with your most important client. Use it only for thinking about where the business is going.
Write down what only you can do. Then write down everything else you do in a normal week. The second list is where your team can start taking ownership.
Hand off one task completely. Choose something from that second list, show someone how you do it, and let them own it. Resist the urge to step back in the moment it is done a little differently than you would do it.
Ask your team what they see. The people closest to the work often spot problems and ideas before you do. Giving them a voice is part of giving them ownership.
Look at the business from a distance. In your protected hour, ask yourself where growth could come from that you have not had time to explore. Write down every idea, even the rough ones.
Freedom Is the Point
Working on your business is not about doing less for your customers. It is about building something that serves them well without needing you in every moment. That is what FieldKit is about. We help owners build a business that runs well, so you can spend more of your time where it matters most, whether that is new growth or time with your family.
If you want a simple place to start, grab my free guide, Start Here. Your next stage of growth may start the day you step back from the counter.
Source: Michael E. Gerber, The E-Myth Revisited.
Start Here: AI in Plain Words
The free bonus lesson from the FieldKit AI Bootcamp, as a short PDF. What AI is and isn't, how to pick an assistant, the five-part brief, a one-page privacy checklist, and your first 15 minutes on a real task.