Your business depends too much on you. Where do you start?
If every important decision ends up on your desk, growth can mean longer working hours. Before hiring another person or buying another tool, identify what depends on you and why.
Signs worth looking at
- Decisions stall when you are away.
- Your team asks for approval on matters they could handle.
- You have delegated tasks but still make every decision.
- Key customer relationships, suppliers, or knowledge depend on one person.
There may be more than one cause
Unclear responsibilities, missing information, skills that still need development, or decision-making authority that has never really been delegated. Customer relationships can also play a role. Not every business needs the same structure or another management layer.
What support could help?
An engagement can start by identifying critical dependencies, agreeing who decides what, and creating a review process that supports informed delegation. Depending on the scope, this might be a defined project, fractional leadership support, or guidance for your team.
Look for someone who has worked through comparable situations. Review the size and context of the businesses, the decisions they were responsible for, and the results they document. Experience in a large organization does not automatically translate to a smaller business.
An example of a defined engagement
The partners of a services business handle most decisions and customer relationships. An engagement could identify recurring decisions, clarify responsibilities, and support the handover of accounts to two managers. Deliverables could include a decision map, escalation criteria, and a review routine. The timeline and time commitment would be agreed after reviewing the situation.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to hire a general manager?
It depends on the challenge. A limited engagement may help improve how the business is managed, while a permanent responsibility may require a different arrangement.
What can I review before paying?
The experience and PAR case studies available in the profiles, along with information that helps you assess the fit. Contact details are unlocked through payment.
What should I include in my challenge?
Describe which decisions depend on you, what happens when you are away, and what you have tried to delegate. The assistant helps you clarify the situation.
Tell us what still depends on you
Creating an account and searching is free. Pay only when you choose to unlock a contact.