Most CEOs dream of scaling their company, but not all of them are able to actually do it. While there are many factors that prevent a company from scaling up, founders and CEOs also play a key role in whether or not a company can successfully scale.
Here are four things CEOs should stop doing for their companies to scale:
#1. Failure to delegate
One piece of advice every CEO should listen to is this:
Get off your plate the things that don’t require you.
Standardize the things you do that are replicable and repeatable so that other people can do them and slowly hand them off. CEOs should trust their employees to do tasks that do not really require a CEO’s expertise. As a CEO, you do not need to be involved in the minor details. As the business grows, you have more demands on your time.
To be effective, as a CEO, you should only do the most important tasks and delegate, delete, or automate the rest. Moreover, you can avoid becoming the bottleneck for decision-making by delegating tasks and empowering employees to make decisions.
The more you delegate, the more you elevate to a higher role. Now you can focus on higher value or quality roles and responsibilities, such as strategic partnerships:
- Is there a way to collaborate with other brands?
- Is there a way to build innovative products?
- Is there a way to better serve the community?
- Is there a way to build thought leadership in your industry?
#2. Lack of Focus
It’s tempting to grab every opportunity that comes your way, but you may also end up with a hodgepodge strategy that won’t work. By focusing on too many customers or clients, you may end up trying to adjust your strategy, product, or service to cater to the varying needs of different customers.
Scaling a business requires focus. Focus on executing a plan. Even if you have a lot of resources, you cannot succeed if you try to be everything to everyone. For a business plan to succeed, leadership must know when to say “no” or at least “not for now”.
#3. Ignoring feedback
I learned from the Japanese that it’s not our skill set as leaders to have the answer. It’s not up to CEOs to know what the customer needs or what needs to be done. Allow the operation to tell us. CEOs should actively seek feedback from employees and customers and use it to make improvements. Ignoring feedback can lead to missed opportunities for growth and innovation.
#4. Focusing on short-term gains
CEOs should focus on building sustainable long-term growth rather than just short-term gains. Instead of focusing on customer acquisition, invest in the long game by creating loyal customers. This requires patience and a willingness to invest in the future.
If you want to scale, build strong processes
Creating strong processes is essential for CEOs looking to scale their business. Strong processes help to ensure that operations are streamlined, efficient, and repeatable, which is critical for managing growth effectively. By developing strong processes, CEOs can create capacity and build a foundation for growth that can be scaled as the business expands.
Learn more about how to build strong processes that can help you scale your business @ hilarycorna.com.
In love and respect,
Hilary Corna
