Smart Business Magazine, June 2019

16 Smart Business Cleveland June 2019 Work on it not in it Founders should work on their business not in it if they want to grow To avoid this fate we encourage founders to work on the business and not in it to maximize their companys potential Founders often begin with the right intentions In the early stages of a companys development with limited resources and capital everyone pitches in on whatever needs to get done Regardless of job description employees to a degree but mostly the founder are wearing many different hats Its the founders credibility that is on the line because he or she has been entrusted with the business The company itself has yet to earn any credibility and with so much at stake on a personal level founders tend to seek control and get involved in every aspect of the business This is OK initially as the founder needs to understand each job within the business and develop job descriptions that clearly articulate expectations But as the company gets bigger and more sophisticated not only are founders less equipped to address certain specialties in the business such as the controller position they also have too many people reporting directly to them to sustain this formula It is at about this point that growth begins to slow and the quality of the product or service begins to suffer Many founders continue to believe they are the best ones to solve every problem no matter how specialized or minute the decision may be Rather than being the facilitator of growth the founder becomes the bottleneck At this point the founder needs to build out a middle management team that can be trusted to make decisions in their area of expertise and independent from the founders input to unlock the companys growth potential Importantly the founder not only needs to trust but also put in place a system that holds all people accountable to what they said they were going to do as well as a reporting system that improves communication flow and the sharing of data throughout the organization To grow the business the founder needs to focus on the issues he or she is most qualified to solve and prioritize work on the two to four key initiatives that no one else can do This is what we mean by working on the business and not in the business Founders need to let go of the minutiae and leave it to those more capable of solving problems in their own area of expertise Of course people are going to make mistakes but that is why the accountability system is so important These mistakes can be turned into learning moments for everyone If everyone becomes better at staying in their lane the sky is the limit Evolution Capital Partners has seen a lot of good businesses over the years that are not performing at the level they should be given the quality of the product or service they are selling While this can be attributed to many things its often a result of the founder getting bogged down in micromanaging the business GROWING EQUITY JEFFREY KADLIC JEFFREY KADLIC Co founder and managing partner Evolution Capital Partners LLC a private equity fund investing growth equity nationwide in second stage companies Jeffrey is an alumnus of Crains Forty under 40 and an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year finalist 216 593 0402 www evolutioncp com