Hard work may be part of building a business. But it doesn’t have to be the permanent price of owning one.
When you start a business, working hard is often unavoidable.
There isn’t anybody else.
You’re selling. You’re delivering. You’re sorting the accounts. You’re dealing with customers. You’re answering emails at night and doing the things you didn’t get around to during the day.
And that’s okay.
Sometimes building a business genuinely does require long hours and sacrifice.
The problem is that nobody tells you when that’s supposed to stop.
“I’m the owner. That’s just what I do.”
As the business grows, things change.
You employ people.
You develop managers.
Turnover increases.
There are more resources and more capability in the business than there were when you started.
Yet something often doesn’t change.
The owner keeps working as though they’re still the person who has to pick up everything that isn’t being done.
They’re first in.
Last out.
They work through lunch.
They check emails in the evening.
They answer the phone on holiday.
And quite often they don’t even see anything unusual about it.
They’re the owner.
Of course they work harder.
Hard Work Probably Helped Build the Business
This is where I disagree with some of the advice given to business owners.
Hard work isn’t bad.
For many successful owners, their willingness to work harder than everyone around them was one of the reasons the business survived its early years.
The problem comes when something that was essential then becomes the normal way of running the business now.
A business employing 20 people shouldn’t operate like the same business did when it employed two.
And the owner’s role shouldn’t be the same either.
The Business Changed. Did Your Job?
As businesses grow, they need different things from their owners.
Initially, the business probably needed your labour.
Then it needed your expertise.
Eventually, what it really needs is your leadership.
Those are very different jobs.
But making that transition isn’t automatic.
Nobody taps you on the shoulder when you reach £1 million turnover and says:
“Congratulations. You can stop doing that bit now.”
So, owners carry on.
They solve problems because they’re good at solving problems.
They get involved because they can get things done quickly.
They work another evening because it’s easier than allowing something to wait until tomorrow.
Individually, every decision makes sense.
Collectively, they create a business that still relies far too heavily on the owner.
Working Harder Isn’t Always the Answer
When the business becomes difficult, the instinct is often to put more effort in.
Another hour.
Another Saturday.
Another problem dealt with personally.
And sometimes that’s exactly what’s needed.
But if the answer has been “work harder” for the last ten years, there’s probably another question worth asking.
What would have to change in the business so that working harder wasn’t always the answer?
That’s a very different conversation.
It might be about responsibility.
Management.
Processes.
Expectations.
Communication.
The structure of the business.
Or something completely different.
That’s why the problem you can see is rarely the problem holding the business back.
Hard Work Doesn’t Have to Be the Permanent Price of Ownership
There will always be difficult weeks.
There will always be customers who cause problems.
There will always be moments when the owner needs to step in and do whatever is necessary.
That’s business.
But there’s a difference between occasionally working incredibly hard because the business needs you and building a business where it permanently needs you to work incredibly hard.
One is part of owning a business.
The other is a choice – even if you didn’t realise you were making it.
Hard work might be part of building a business.
It doesn’t have to be the permanent price of owning one.
By Andy Walter
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