When it’s time to scale, your first bold move isn’t launching a shiny new product or announcing a headline-grabbing partnership. It’s far less glamorous than that. In fact, it can feel downright boring. But it’s critical, and it starts with embracing an entrepreneurial mindset. You need to figure out how to delegate.
Yes, the word alone sends shudders through many founders. Giving up control? Letting someone else handle your precious tasks? For ambitious solopreneurs, this is often where the road forks—and many veer dangerously off course. Why? Because they’re still clinging to every tactic and task they mastered in year one, convinced no one else can possibly do it “just right.”
Why Delegation Feels So Hard
The struggle isn’t just tactical. It’s mental. And it’s exactly why shifting into a true entrepreneur mindset is non-negotiable for scaling. Trust us, we’ve heard every version of this song and dance from entrepreneurs stuck in the “growth but not scaling” purgatory:
“But I’m the only one who can [insert magical unicorn task here].”
“I just can’t find anyone good enough to [insert sacred job function here].”
And, our personal favorite—mostly because we’ve been guilty of saying it too—”The client will leave if I’m not personally leading the account.”
None of this is actually true. What’s really holding them back isn’t a lack of talent on the team—it’s that they’re still starring in a one-woman show. They’re too busy running through daily checklists to make space for big thinking. No time to test new offers, explore strategic partnerships, or shift the business model. Instead, they work longer hours, juggle more plates, and somehow—profits don’t budge.
Here’s the truth: if your calendar is packed and your profits are flat, the problem isn’t your team—it’s your entrepreneurial mindset. Scaling demands letting go of the wrong things so you can focus on the right things.
What Happens When You Don’t Delegate
We lived both extremes. Beth was almost too good at delegating. She’d hand something off and be onto the next shiny idea before her poor team even knew what hit them. Victoria? The opposite. Her control-freak tendencies served us well at first—bills paid, invoices out, and nothing falling through the cracks. But as the business accelerated, even her superwoman efforts hit a wall. Receivables skyrocketed, cash plummeted, and the sales pipeline stalled. Why? Not because clients weren’t interested—but because the final approver of proposals (Victoria, of course) had a backlog the size of Texas.
The brutal but freeing realization? Only a handful of things truly need your full attention. And yes, they’re often the inconvenient, exhausting, and make-or-break ones. But here’s the unsexy truth: If your revenue and profits stall, that’s on you. If they grow? That’s likely thanks to a seed you planted months ago finally blooming. This—plus the occasional birthday cake for your team—is your job now. Not obsessing over invoice templates.
What to Keep, What to Delegate, What to Drop
The Tasks That Need You (CEO-Level Work)
First, there are the tasks that absolutely require your undivided attention. These are your CEO-level duties—vision, strategy, and the hard calls only you can make. Launching a new product line? That’s yours. Spotting a faltering strategy or a misaligned team member? Definitely you. Identifying when a once-reliable system is now a total mess? You guessed it—still you. If something has the power to swing revenue or profit by 10% or more, keep it firmly on your plate. Think of these as business CPR—you can’t hand that off to an intern or even your rockstar COO.
The Tasks You Should Oversee, But Not Own
Next, we move to the middle ground: the “set it and supervise” tasks. These are crucial but shouldn’t consume your day. Think client onboarding, invoice generation, or drafting sales proposals. These systems should run smoothly without your fingerprints all over them. If you find yourself endlessly tinkering—editing every invoice or micro-managing every onboarding email—it’s time to let go. Seriously. Your role isn’t to do the work; it’s to design the process, pick the right people, and step back. Be quality control, yes. Be a coach and mentor, definitely. But do not be the donut maker. A dedicated team spending 40 focused hours a week will always outperform your distracted, drive-by efforts.
The Tasks You Should’ve Let Go Already
And then—the final bucket—are the tasks you should have released yesterday. (Looking at you, Victoria.) These are the repetitive, brain-draining chores like data entry, scheduling social media posts, and hunting down receipts. If it can be templated, trained, or tracked—outsource it. Full stop.
Scaling Your Business Requires a Strong Entrepreneurial Mindset
For us, HR became our Achilles heel. As we scaled, recruiting, interviewing, and checking references devoured our calendars. Candidates ghosted us because we were too slow. We made hiring mistakes from rushed decisions. We finally hired a contractor to help—and then dragged our feet far too long before making her permanent. That’s the cost of staying stuck in a task mindset instead of embracing an entrepreneurial mindset of delegating. Once we did? We earned back 20 hours a week—plus all the time we wasted griping about how bad we were at hiring.
In the end, scaling—and living—isn’t about doing more. It’s about ruthlessly doing less of the wrong stuff and much more of the right stuff. Focus like your sanity depends on it (because it might).
But never, ever hand off your vision. That stays yours. That’s your superpower. You’ve built something incredible. Now, it’s time to lead it—like the CEO, visionary, and mom you were always meant to be.
