Why Working More Is Keeping Your Business Small
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How did the host's early experience teaching Financial Peace University illustrate being stuck in the business?
When I first started teaching Financial Peace University classes, I'd drive to the venue, set up all the equipment, teach for hours, break down the equipment, get home exhausted, and then do it all over again. Multiple nights a week, all by myself. And that's how it is when you're starting out. Everything depends on you. You're the salesperson, the operator, the customer service department, the janitor, all of it. and that may work for a while but you can't unplug because if you stop the business stops and suddenly you're no longer running the business it's running you that's exactly where i was before i hired my first team member russ carroll and that changed everything because if you want to scale you can't keep doing what you've always done at least not without running yourself into the ground
So today, Entrez Leadership's head coach John Falcons is going to break down the four things you've got to get right if you want to get off the treadmill and build a business that can actually grow beyond you. Let's get to it.
I once coached a guy who was a veterinarian cardiologist. He had even performed heart surgery on a polar bear. He was one of 300 people in the world that were doing this. And he was good at his job, his business was thriving, and he was in high demand and making good money.
What common 'treadmill operator' scenarios show why business owners can't unplug?
But he was exhausted. He wanted to pull back a little bit, but he couldn't because he was the only one in his business who could do what he did. Now, you may not be a polar bear heart surgeon, but if you're a doctor, a lawyer, a mechanic, or really any other business owner, you've probably felt this before. I just spoke to a guy the other day who installs fiber optic cable. When he was getting started, he had to be on the drill at 7 a.m. in the morning, work all day, and then do paperwork until he fell asleep at night. That's the epitome of what it means to be in the treadmill operator stage. We know that most of you are in this stage, and here's what it feels like. Everything depends on you. You're grinding all day, making the money, and at first, the hustle is necessary.
It's even exciting, but then you're exhausted, and you're asking, How do I grow this without me doing everything? The fact is you don't own a business, you own a job.
Which four core problems keep leaders from scaling beyond themselves?
This is where a lot of business owners get stuck. If you want to get off the treadmill, you have got to create margin in your business. You've got to create margin in your time, your finances, your team. You can make good money and even hire a little help. But until you figure out how to make the money without you being in the room, you'll stay stuck. There are four things every leader needs to get right if they want to level up. Without these, you'll continue to stay stuck on the treadmill and eventually burn out. The first thing is time management. For the polar bear heart surgeon, his biggest problem was that his calendar was too full. He was in high demand and constantly doing these surgeries. He had no room to think, to find help, or to build a system that could relieve some of the pressure.
You could be doing well, but at some point, you're going to hit your limit. You become the bottleneck. You have to make time to work on your business, not just on the day-to-day work.
How can a time audit and prioritization create margin in your day?
This is where I hear a lot of pushback from business owners who say, I don't have time. That's not true. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. The real issue is that everything feels urgent. You never stop to decide what's really important. The first step is knowing what you're actually spending your time on, and you can do that with a time audit. We've got a guide to help you do that, and we'll link it in the description below. A lot of business owners think they know where their time goes until they actually track it. You may find that you're wasting time by sitting in meetings you don't need to be in, answering the same questions over and over again, reacting to constant interruptions or texts.
So after the time audit, ask yourself, What can I stop doing to create more margin in my day?
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
How did the host's early experience teaching Financial Peace University illustrate being stuck in the business?
0:05–1:15
2
What common 'treadmill operator' scenarios show why business owners can't unplug?
1:15–2:11
3
Which four core problems keep leaders from scaling beyond themselves?
2:11–3:08
4
How can a time audit and prioritization create margin in your day?
3:08–4:16
5
What budgeting moves produce financial margin to hire and grow?
4:16–5:01
6
How should small-business owners rethink hiring and training instead of seeking clones?
5:01–6:22
7
Why is delegation critical to culture and scaling, and how can you start letting go?
6:22–8:15