#270:10 things I wish I knew scaling a business
For Founders Only.
When I was running my business there became a time when I started to question myself. A lot of things I “should” do.
I’d started something amazing, we had good revenue and a decent team. I started getting in my head as things became more “serious”. The bottom up pressure from employees and the pressure I put on myself made me feel like I needed to follow a path.
I needed to implement OKRs, hire leaders, be more like that startup, be more like that founder. Do things the “right way”
Here are 10 things I wish I knew. This is for Founders, by a Founder. I don’t want your employees, or your investors to read this.
1. Your employees will NEVER be good enough.
Stop expecting employees to care as much as you. Stop expecting them to act like an owner, when they own nothing. They have a job, you have a company. Some employees are leaders, most are not. Lead them well. Tell them what to do. Expect nothing more and everything else is a bonus.
2. You can DO WHAT YOU WANT.
You can quit and become a Barista. You can start again with a new name. You can go on holiday tomorrow. You can work 7 days in the office. You can work in Serbia or Singapore. You can never use email. You can make everyone wear a uniform. You can call yourself Chief Magic Officer. You can only hire people with first name Charlie.
If you feel like you can’t do what you want, you are beginning to lose your way.
3. You don’t need to do that much.
2-3 critical actions per week will make your company grow. Everything else is tasks for the company to run. You may need to do those tasks, you may not. 2-3 tasks per week will move the needle and grow the business. These are tasks that only you can do.
4. You probably need to rest more.
Scrolling on your phone isn’t resting. Checking emails on the sofa at night isn’t resting.You’re probably working too hard and you’re probably busy doing too much that doesn’t add value. If you rested more, you’d think more clearly and you’d work smarter on the tasks that matter.
5. You probably need to work harder on some stuff
It’s likely you’re not working hard enough on what matters. You need to be obsessing over a few things that deeply matter and you need to explode your founder energy onto those things. If you are going to work late in the evening, it should be on projects, tasks or products that make your fingers type so fast you feel like you’re inventing the light bulb.
6. Your investors will be fine.
You’re a name on their spreadsheet and if it doesn’t work out, you get deleted off that spreadsheet. Your company means the world to you - it means a diverse portfolio to them.
7. Stop trying to impress people.
Your investors backed you because you’re different. You’re customers buy you because you’re you. Your users use your product because it’s unique. Your difference, diversity, personality, eccentricity is what everyone wants more of. So when you start thinking about how to please someone else (investor, customer, employee) you’re losing your edge. Stop it.
People back you because they can never be like you - so why would you try and be like them?
8. It’s all about you.
At a certain stage you need a “leadership team”, you must “empower others”, you must “step back”. Bollocks. You’re the founder and it’s all about you for a long time. Much longer than you think. Every great company is created by a great founder. Unless you’re at £10m+ revenue with an extremely clear path to scale with clear levers - you need to be absolutely in the way, not out of it. You are the secret sauce - stay motivated, stay hungry. Make the business work around you and mould the whole company around your strengths.
9. Nobody is smarter than you
Hire people smarter than you yada yada blah blah. Yes. You will hire people more experienced than you. Yes, they will know some more specific stuff than you. But NOBODY knows your company better than you. When it comes down to what’s right within your vision and values - nobody is smarter than you.
10. Don’t just be a founder.
Play Padel. Get a dog. Get married. Run a marathon. Pick up guitar again. Have things in your life that are in no way related to business. Don’t just be a founder all the time, because if you just work - when work goes bad - you’ll go bad. Round yourself out. Look at the pie chart of your life. If your business is over 50% - get a life. Seriously. It’s good for you and for business.
