Are you indispensable to your own startup? Spending too much time working IN your business rather than ON your business can do more harm than good.
Most entrepreneurs prefer to mange their businesses right from the beginning to an exit stage. They want to be directly involved in the day to day running of the business. In as much as you may be the one with the vision to take the business to the next level, it’s important to create a great plan for your company to run with or without you. Sometimes it’s important for founders to lead the business to a successful stage where they can comfortably delegate some responsibilities to others. Hiring smart can greatly improve and sustain your business even without your personal involvement. Effective and productive hires need little or no supervision and they are great assets to your success.
Startup founders lead their companies right from the beginning of an idea stage to sometimes exit stages. The people who get involved in early stages of your startup have a higher chance of committing to the success of the company. Smart and good hires can contribute greatly to the success of your startup. Get them involved and focus on what needs your crucial involvement.
Think longer term and get your employees to think along the same lines. The focus, vision and goals of the business should be obvious to all your employees. Your absence as a founder or CEO should not derail the progress of your business. Business process should not be disrupted in anyway without your personal involvement. Your business should operate and can operate to perfection, with or without you. But you have to make the necessary arrangement to make this happen.
Most entrepreneurs have a hard time giving up their responsibilities at their own businesses and fall into the habit of doing everything themselves. Well, that may not be a bad thing, but building your business around you can create problems in the future when you are scaling and need to get others involved-partners, investors etc.
You can begin to delegate some of your responsibilities to others, that way you can begin to gain more confidence in your staff. Eventually you want to be able to turn over the entire day-to-day operations to other smart and competent leaders in your company.
If you are eager to move from start-up status to ongoing success and a great company, you can make the necessary arrangements to get competent employees involved. And yes, your business can survive without you. Run your business instead of letting it run you. Lots of businesses close their doors forever!, you don’t have to be another victim of a failed business.