Your Business Isn't Growing? Take Off Two of Your Hats

by Ryan McMullen

Anybody who has ever tried to start a business with little or no money knows that when you first get started, you are required to wear many, if not all, hats. You are your own sales force and your own administration department, and obviously you’re in charge of whatever service or product you provide.  

Anybody who has ever been successful at starting a business knows that you need to get away from that model as soon as possible if you ever expect to grow your business. Paying somebody else to do something you can do is one of the hardest decisions a cash-strapped business can make.

Here’s what I mean: If you are a roofer and you start your own company, you need not take another step atop another roof. You may lay the greatest row of shingles the world has ever seen, but your job now is to get out there, pound the pavement and get more work. Let your crew do the heavy lifting.  

Do the math. How many new jobs are you bidding up on the roof? Sure, you’re making more money per project, but ultimately you’re spending your precious time in the least profitable area.  Yes, it’s hard to give up that cash when you’re just getting started, but you’re working way smarter and your back will thank you for it later.

If you’re a roofer who loves being up there, then there is hope for you. There are three parts to your business, and you are allowed to commit to only one of them. You can focus your time on sales/marketing, administration or whatever it is you do. If you want to scale your business, you get only one. Period.  

If our roofer wants to be a roofer, then he’s got to pay somebody to do the sales and marketing to get the work and somebody to keep the books. That is the only way he’ll run a successful business. I personally know two accountants who run successful construction companies because they focus on administration and pay people to do the rest.

Unfortunately, most small-business owners get stuck trying to wear every hat, and they either burn themselves out and go get a job or simply go out of business. The biggest difference – and I mean 400% positive change – I ever made in my business was to let go, stop trying to be the expert at everything, stick to my own expertise and passion, and pay talented outsourcers to fill in the blanks.      

Ryan McMullen (ryan@stlouismarketinglab.com) is the owner of St. Louis Marketing Lab.