Who is in charge of your business when you go for vacation?

The 3 Modes That Keep Business Owners Trapped

As we are wrap up the summer, some of you are fully energized to start the new season and some of you are already exhausted. When is the last time you wanted to go on a two week vacation and ended up taking one or two days instead?

I've been a high tech entrepreneur for over 10 years and I've worked with over 60 companies, and I get it. You've worked long hours, most of the time you're the first to arrive and the last person to leave. You love what you do, even if at times it is exhausting.

Having started my career in the corporate world, I kind of got used to taking 2 or 3 weeks off at a time, making sure you left everything ready for anyone who might have to deal with emergencies.

When I made the leap into company building, I too went through all of these business owner behavior modes at point or another:

Mode I - Entrepreneurial Passion: I love what I'm doing and I can easily get lost in it, so much so that I can go for 65-80 hours a week, no problem (pure passion).

Mode II - FOMO/Non-Delegator: I don't feel I can leave because I think there is always so much to do (fear of missing out) - even though I have people who could handle things.

Mode III - Solo Operator: I don't feel I can take off because I literally don't have anyone who can do what I do

Time and time again, I see one of these behaviors in business owners. Let's dive in:

Mode I: Business owners on Mode I can work long hours out of pure passion, is legitimate, and it can be really satisfying. However, if it's not controlled, it can lead to burnout. Trust me, I've been on both ends.

Mode II: This type of owner is obsessed with her business. She has a manager or team but doesn't trust them enough to leave the business running in her absence. This type of ownership is fueled by fear. The worry floods her mind and doesn't let her fully trust her manager and could be apprehensive to let others make decisions.

Mode III: This business owner is a solo operator with no one in the management line. This business owner hasn't been able to invest the time and effort to train someone else to take over. If he or she gets sick or has to leave town for any reason, that's it! The business will be closed that day or days or weeks. This is an operational risk.

Let's explore deeper into Modes II and III - the ones keeping most of us trapped.

FOMO and the Non-Delegator

In 2004, Patrick McGinnis coined the term FOMO at Harvard Business School while doing extensive research on entrepreneurs. FOMO is defined as:

"the uneasy and sometimes all-consuming feeling that you're missing out"

The business owner that falls into the FOMO/Non-Delegator category trusts her instincts but intrinsically fears missing out on an opportunity. Gallup research shows 75% of entrepreneurs struggle with delegation - you're not alone in this challenge. As entrepreneurs we are wired to jump on an opportunity that could impact our business and many times attributing an even weight to these opportunities.

An opportunity to close a big contract, to meet that new client, to make sure the order is fulfilled exactly the way you planned it, the list goes on..

This behavior creates a vicious cycle - the more opportunities you chase, the less time you have to rest and gain perspective. I've seen this pattern in dozens of founders across tech and traditional industries.

What started as excitement and intent to take meticulous care of the business turned into an obsessive behavior where this business owner cannot let other people in her team make decisions fearing that they will mess up.

This behavior could derive from previous failed experiences where this business owner decided to trust someone else and she was let down and decided not to try again.

It could also reflect a control-driven behavior where they need to see things through by themselves, fearing that otherwise it won't get done or it will fail. While this could be true, the solution is not to give up, but to find competent people, train them, and let go of tasks little by little. It doesn't mean that you as the business owner won't have anything to do with these tasks anymore, but you won't work on them directly. Start small: delegate one decision this week and don't override it, even if it's not perfect.

The Solo Operator

Small businesses often fall into the Solo Operator trap. They either don't make enough money to hire a manager or they've been pushing the decision for so long, that they even forgot to revisit it and they're trapped in their business because there's nobody else who will perform their duties.

If you don't have enough money to bring someone on board, you'll think this conversation is a non-starter. I want to shed light to another idea. What if your manager was right there already as part of your team. He or she knows your business and has been there for a while. Probably neither of you thought that this was even an opportunity. Why bring an outsider when you have talent right there, might be raw talent, but talent in the end.

Finding Your Hidden Manager

We all have had "bad" employees, the ones who don't commit, the ones who are there just for the paycheck and cannot be bothered to contribute their ideas. I want to ask you if you ever had employees who -on the contrary- are bringing ideas on how to improve a process, how to save money for the company, how to reduce complaints, and even.. how to make more money. If you have one of these, hang on to him/her tightly. Because this person is a keeper! And can be trained to be a good manager.

If you don't have anyone on your team with these characteristics, your business is hurting and more likely, your personal life is too. You need to be on the hunt for one. Do not stop until you find him or her and be ready to offer more than a handshake and a salary. These people are gold for your business and need to be treated well. Don't get me wrong here, I am not talking about giving them a ridiculous salary. I am talking about the intangibles that create trust and a healthy relationship where both you and your talented manager to-be can see the opportunities ahead.

Last year, a coffee shop owner I know finally let her team handle the entire Black Friday weekend while she traveled for Thanksgiving. She checked her phone every hour the first day, convinced something would go wrong. Not only did they hit record sales, but her manager implemented a new order system that worked better than her original process. "I realized I was the bottleneck," she told me later.

This is how you enjoy your holidays!

Here's what I want you to do this week: Look at the upcoming holiday season - Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's. If you can't imagine taking a real break during those times without your business falling apart, you're stuck in one of these modes. Let's make this fall about building the systems that will let you actually enjoy the holidays.

Recognize yourself in any of these? Hit reply - sometimes just naming it is the first step.

Carmi

Could This Work for Your Business Too? Explore your gowth potential.

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