To Build a Bigger Business, Do Nothing

There’s a terrible disease going around among Entrepreneurs.  Symptoms include working 80 hour weeks and referring to yourself as “President and Chief Bottle Washer”.  It’s a disease I call Do-It-Yourself Syndrome.

Stricken entrepreneurs want to control every aspect of their business.  But sadly, the harder they work, the less they accomplish. Sufferers commonly work themselves to death doing menial tasks like counting inventory, fixing computers and writing checks.

Even with 15 employees, I sometimes catch DIYS.  I find myself editing every press release, balancing every bank account and taking out the trash.  I’m not above doing these things, but when I spend my days checking spelling or sorting recycling, I’m not contributing to the growth of my company.

That’s the nature of the DIYS — you feel busy, but you’re not making progress.

If you are ever going to build a business that makes you rich,  the right people have to be doing the right jobs.  And sometimes the right job for you to do is NOTHING.

Say what? Let me say it again.  To cure DIYS and grow the business, find a way to do nothing.  Or, as I like to say, “Make yourself obsolete.” The business absolutely must be able to run without your direct, day to day effort. If it doesn’t, your company will never grow beyond your personal abilities and resources (and man, are you going to be tired!).

Doing Nothing requires more efficient operations — automation, standardization, and “process-ization” of the daily work.   Streamline the work.  Write down the steps.  Hire some help.  Once the right process and procedures exist, anyone can do the work.  This frees you — the leader — to do your real job, which is to be the chief visionary and rain-maker.

So now you are saying… “But Dave, I have to do it myself — I can’t afford to hire any more help.”   I hear ya. Let me be clear: money should never limit your growth.  In my career I have used all of the following tricks (and more) to cure DIY Syndrome and keep my company growing without spending a lot of money:

1. outsourced the work to India or the Philippines (for $5/hour!)
2. skipped my own salary in order to hire additional help
3. borrowed to pay for new people or tools
4. taken on an “angel” investor to finance new processes
5. sold a big account that I couldn’t possibly deliver — which forced me to hire someone, but also paid for the help
6. begged, bartered and cajoled for help from outside the company
7. offered to pay double later for help today
8. passed my biggest account to a competitor — which got the work done and paid me a fee without ANY hours expended
9. refused to take on small jobs that would “keep me busy” but not grow the business (and let’s face it, when I am “busy”, my business can’t possibly grow!).

The cure for DIY Syndrome is bold action.  You must be willing to create processes, to delegate, and to trust others to help. But your alternative is to suffer forever.  Making yourself obsolete — no matter what it takes — is really the only permanent solution.  And once you are obsolete, you can focus on the real business of your business: growth and innovation.

So here’s to making yourself obsolete… Dedicated to your (automatic, systemitized) profits,

David