Picture a founder who wakes at 5am, answers client messages before breakfast, knows every product and every supplier's number, and approves every post before it goes out. Her business is growing. Her body is tired. Her team is waiting, always, for her.
She is not lazy. She is caught in what I call the Founder Trap: the skills that got you started are the very skills that stop you growing.
Two lists, one sheet of paper
Take a sheet of paper and draw two columns.
- Column A: things only I can do. Be honest. This list should be short.
- Column B: things I do because I do not trust someone else to do them.
Column A is your genius zone: the vision, the key relationships, the heart of the product. That work deserves your full presence. Column B is your fear zone. It is where your business is stuck, and it is your first delegation list.
How to use it
- Write for ten minutes without stopping. Include small things: replying to customers, approving payments, packing orders.
- Circle the three items in Column B that take the most time each week.
- For each one, write the result you want, not just the task. "Every order is confirmed by 5pm" is better than "send these messages".
- Pick one to hand over this week, with a written checklist.
Review the audit every 90 days. Column A should get shorter over time, not longer.
The point
The goal is not to work yourself out of a job. It is to work yourself into the right job: leading, setting direction and building. People cannot rise to expectations that live only in your head.
This exercise is the first tool in my book Build The Machine, and the first lesson in the Build The Machine course on NEXT STEP Academy.
Written by Mark Nii Barnor Adom. About the author