There’s a point in many businesses that doesn’t get talked about very much.
It’s not the startup phase.
It’s not crisis.
And it’s not failure.
It’s the point where the business is working… but it is just harder than it should be.
Most owners at this stage are experienced. They’ve made good decisions. They’ve learned the hard way. They’ve built teams and a reputation.
And yet, they’ll quietly say things like:
“I seem to get dragged back into everything again.”
“I’ve got good people, but decisions keep coming back to me.”
“I don’t feel out of control — I just feel… overloaded.”
That distinction matters.
Because what’s happening here isn’t a lack of effort or commitment. It’s often the opposite. The owner is carrying things because they can. They’ve become the glue that holds complexity together.
The problem is that the more glue it takes to hold it together the heavier it gets and the harder to carry it becomes.
Experience becomes the thing everyone relies on. Judgment, context, relationships, and risk all sit with the owner — not because anyone decided it should be that way, but because the business evolved faster than it was redesigned.
At earlier stages, that works.
At later stages, it creates pressure.
What makes this particularly difficult is that the numbers don’t always tell the story. Revenue can be fine. The order book can be healthy. From the outside, everything looks good.
Internally, though, the owner is compensating for gaps:
- stepping in to clarify
- smoothing over misalignment
- making decisions others could make, but don’t
This is why simply “pushing through” doesn’t work.
You can’t outwork a design issue.
If the way the business is structured still depends on one person holding the context, the pressure doesn’t go away — it compounds. Each new initiative, hire, or client adds just a bit more load.
The shift that changes things isn’t motivation or grit.
It’s redesign.
Owners who regain control don’t become less involved because they care less. They become less involved because the business is set up to function without constant personal intervention.
They step back, ask better questions, and intentionally reshape how decisions, responsibility, and ownership flow through the business.
That kind of thinking doesn’t happen between meetings. It needs space. Perspective. Sometimes another pair of eyes that isn’t emotionally inside the business.
But when it happens, something important changes.
The business starts to feel lighter — not because less is happening, but because it’s happening in the right places.
And that’s often the difference between a business that keeps demanding more from its owner… and one that finally starts to give something back.
By Andy Walter
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