Grow the Business or Build the Team?

At some point, every successful business owner faces the decision of what their role in their business will be. It usually comes down to one of two choices – focusing on business growth (sales, marketing, and operations) or focusing on building the team that will make the business grow. On Episode 137 of the Lead From Anywhere podcast, I reflected on this journey, shared my own choice, and offered some insights that might help you make the decision for yourself.

I was recently reading a book about the management and leadership of a small business. In the section about hiring your teams, a question froze in my mind: Should I focus on growing my business or on building a team to grow the business?  I want to explore this topic because business owners and leaders must understand that those are two very different functions.

Business growth involves a close look at sales, marketing, operations, and customer or client service.

Building the team involves the leadership of the people who manage the areas of business growth.

Your initial reaction to that question might be, “Both. I have to do both.”

But the more I thought about it, and as I examined my place in my current business, the more I realized doing both is exhausting.

I have been writing about burnout lately because I went through a hard time a few months ago. I am now suspicious that THIS is when business owners get burned out. They get to this point and must decide to focus on only one but choose to continue doing both because they feel like they have to. If you’re reaching this point, you need to pick a lane.

Stay in the growth areas and start grooming another person to become the person who builds the team.

– OR – Build the team and delegate the sales and growth of the business part to another person.

Those changes won’t happen overnight, but I think this is one of the secrets to how business owners protect themselves from burnout AND grow their businesses. Picking one of those options, when it’s time to do so, and then staying in that lane.

My best work is leading the team, nurturing, teaching, passing on knowledge – and then getting the heck out of their way so they can grow the business.

I know other business owners who love doing the work that grows the business. The ones that do it well, though, make sure there is someone also growing the team. Because here’s the deal – you need both roles filled.

Making the choice to pick a lane is one of the best things I’ve ever done for my business and my employees, and I’m guessing it will be the same for you. At the end of the day – if you pick one of those options – your business will grow. It’s just deciding which role you will play in getting it there.