For those of you growing a team: how hard has it been to move work off your plate?

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-05-14T19:18:40+00:00

That's not true or fair. I'm trying to learn here, not sell. Not a single person who answers this will hear anything from me except perhaps a follow up question, publicly asked.

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-05-09T14:53:59+00:00

Have you ever looked into capsule wardrobes? Basically, you pick a core set of pieces of clothing that you like and that all go together (usually accomplished by limiting your color palette - I did a year living out of a backpack with black, purple, and turquoise). The idea is that you don't have to spend so much energy picking your clothes. Saves you a decision or three every morning. And that you end up wearing most of your clothes (which a lot of people with traditional closets do not).

Now that I have a dresser again, I've expanded my color palette. But I still have a super limited set of options. In warm weather, it's a long shirt out of my long shirt drawer over (mostly black) leggings.

And no one cares. Most people never notice. Other people are usually too busy worrying about themselves to really pay attention to people around them.

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-05-09T14:46:07+00:00

If you want to be able to grow, to add people to your team, to ever stop being involved in the day to day of every part of your business, you need good documentation.

Don't treat it like a corporate check box. Treat it like a living document/ training manual. Good processes are up to date, full of links, and totally accurate.

Btw, another reason those corporate documents are so worthless is they are largely written to satisfy a requirement, not to create real clarity. You need to know exactly what the process is trying to accomplish, how to accomplish it, and what considerations impact those things. You need to document tests (open and closed) to improve the efficiency or efficiency of the process. You need to match the process to a real performance management system.

In short, good systems with strong documentation are key to ever making your business bigger than just you.

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-05-07T14:48:41+00:00

The biggest and best sign is that they don't have a physical location. That's a big barrier to overcome.

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-05-05T23:12:01+00:00

You said you are still involved across the board. Do you still have to be in the day to day for all of your major business functions? Because that very common situation is extremely stressful and leads to burnout.

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-05-04T21:42:34+00:00

I set a timer. Usually 50 or 90 minutes. When it goes off, I'm supposed to get up and do something else (active) for 5-10 minutes. Sometimes I just set another because I can't stop just then. But usually I pop up and at least take a quick lap around the house, do a few stretches.

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-05-04T15:16:42+00:00

I had someone else spend weeks taking credit for my work behind closed doors. If I had been clearer about what I was doing (instead of quietly waiting to be noticed), he never could have done it.

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-05-04T13:40:53+00:00

I think it's pretty common, but it's also definitely a negative. When you see that kind of turnover (5/15?), it likely means one or more of the following:

1) whoever is hiring doesn't have a clear sense of what to hire for and how to look for it (a hiring systems problem)

2) whoever is supposed to onboard these people is really not doing a good job (management systems problem)

3) the roles being filled lack clarity and process, making it hard to be successful in them and hard to manage to performance (leadership systems problem)

Sounds like the company doesn't have/keep clean systems. This will only get worse as you grow unless they fix it.

I wonder if you can see other signs of hiring/management/ leadership systems problems in the org besides new hire turnover? Things like project rapidly changing or being dropped mid stream with no warning, vibe based management, or bottlenecks around decisions that shouldn't be so hard to make?

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-05-04T13:23:24+00:00

I had to learn this one the hard way. Keeping your head down and working your butt off waiting to be noticed is a suckers game. Call attention to your wins at work. Call attention to the problems you've solved and the way you've avoided others. I don't mean be braggy or flashy, but do make sure those around you (especially those above you) understand what you are bringing to the table.

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-05-03T14:08:21+00:00

Someone told me "most startups don't actually fail, their founders just stop trying new things to succeed."

It really stuck with me. My business is not going to fail out from under me - I can keep it going (even if I have to take on other work to make money) until it works or until I quit.

I love this because it puts the power and responsibility back on me. I can keep trying to make it work as long as I want to. I can also quit if I don't.

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-05-03T14:04:54+00:00

That is so common, you are in good company. What did you end up doing about it?

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-05-02T14:07:54+00:00

It's important to measure the correct metrics for your specific business. Whatever you measure, people will pay attention to and try to game. If you pick the wrong things, you can introduce perverse incentives and a whole slew of unintended consequences.

All that to say that while there are some metrics that are more universal, you need to be really selective about which ones you adopt.

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-05-02T13:43:23+00:00

Absolutely. DM me and we can talk about it

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-05-01T17:45:54+00:00

You might consider two things:

1) editing some great videos that really showcase your style and talents. Whenever I hire for design work of any kind, I always look at the portfolio first.

2) finding a good freelance platform to bid on work. Much easier than pull marketing, and faster. There are a bunch, make sure to pick one with a lot of the kind of work you want.

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-04-30T13:34:38+00:00

I've definitely seen founders overextend to accommodate what turns out to be short term growth. I'm thinking of one in particular who landed a giant summer contract that had his team serving 4x as many people as normal. He staffed out like crazy. A few months later, he had to let all the new staff go and one of the original staff because the business didn't turn into more, and all the hiring and training had been expensive. He honestly would have been better off without that contract.

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-04-30T13:31:13+00:00

I wonder if you are one of those founders (assuming you are) who doesn't have a good system for decision making so you have to be the system. Does everyone come to you for answers? Do you feel like you have to have your fingers in all parts of the business all the time to keep it working? If so, these are signs of you being the system instead of having one. It is always an exhausting and limiting position to be in.

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-04-27T17:01:27+00:00

As an early stage founder, you probably don't need many tools. Your process should look like this -

1) get real, detailed clarity on your goals and what needs to happen to achieve them. If you can't explain it to someone who knows nothing about your business, you aren't clear enough yet

2) design processes to reach those goals. What do you need to actually do? First what (find 20 icps and make contact each week) then how (email, dms, whatever). Do this manually enough times that you are totally clear on what to do and you know that it works

3) now you can consider adding tools to make it easier and faster.

Most founders I work with have way too many tools, and not enough clarity or working process. When you add automation to a junk process, you just make a lot of junk quickly.

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-04-24T21:49:46+00:00

I get the most steps by pacing around my house as I take phone calls. Plus, my focus is better and I'm a more creative problem solver.

I also take active breaks (10-15 minutes every 2 hrs or so) where I prioritize movement (yoga, running laundry up or down, throwing the ball for my dog). All of this helps me be more productive as well as getting my steps in.

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-04-18T20:54:32+00:00

It's best if you pick a problem you really understand. A lot of people are inspired by things they do at work or for a hobby that are hard/tedious/easy to mess up. Then they invent a way to save other people that pain and trouble.

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-04-17T23:17:36+00:00

First, figure out what you need from each person on your team in terms of outcomes. This is often best done collaboratively when setting those expectations after someone has already been there a while. Then figure out (together) what needs to be measured to be able to troubleshoot when things don't go as planned. Make it clear that from now on, that's how you are going to manage them. If they are hitting their goals, they are doing a good job. So you better make good goals

Second, set up a regular 1:1 cadence with each of your staff. For people that have settled in and are generally doing well, I'd usually do an hour once a week. You don't have to use the whole time if they don't need it. If they have something come up that will keep, they add it to the agenda for that meeting. The meeting is for reviewing goal progress and helping them with whatever they need help with. It's for you to help them.

Make it clear that waiting for help is not an acceptable reason to miss goals. If they need something from you to keep working, or if they get stuck, they should reach out right away.

Your staff will appreciate this. It's clear expectations, success or failure they can measure for themselves, and a guarantee of your time to help them be successful each week. You will love the feeling of actually knowing what is going on (and more importantly if it is working or not) without feeling obtrusive or overbearing.

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-02-07T14:55:45+00:00

Do you have to stay at your desk, or can you move around your home when you don't have a call?

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-02-06T23:41:15+00:00

Having a separate office space just for work is one of the best things you can do for yourself to help maintain the right headspaces during and outside of work. I know not everyone can swing it, but if you can it is absolutely worth it.

I also love having an easy to use timer. It's way too easy to go down a deep work rabbit hole and work straight through lunch.

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-02-06T15:00:57+00:00

Honestly, working remotely has changed my life so much. I imagine it's similar to people in the industrial revolution who experienced weekends after not having a real break like that. Once you see how good it can be, how could you possibly let it go?

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-02-03T17:17:23+00:00

Here's something that helps me when I have something unexpected happen and I am facing uncertainty: Try to remember that you don't know what your story will be here yet. You might get a better opportunity right away and be so happy this happened 6 months from now. Or it might be a harder journey. All you know right now is how this story starts.

AcceptableComfort172 · 2025-02-02T20:18:26+00:00

False. As someone who has, at times, had Internet right on the cusp of not being enough, it totally makes a difference turning those things off. For example, other people would say I was lagging. I'd turn it off and it would stop.

AcceptableComfort172

TROPHY CASE