The opinions of contributing entrepreneurs are their own. </p><div>
Key Takeaways
- Sign #1: Your growth exceeds your self-confidence.
- Sign #2: You are developing leadership needs that are outside your skillset.
- Sign No. 3: Pride affects your progress.
Early-stage business growth is a wonderful thing, but it can also be misleading. It can also be addictive. Given both of these things, it’s easy to understand why some founders assume they can run their company forever without ever bringing in new talent. But my career has taught me otherwise.
When my brother Todd and I started Roof Maxx to create a cost-effective alternative to roof renovation for homeowners whose shingles were yet to be replaced, we were in charge of every major board decision. We wore multiple hats because that’s usually what it takes to be successful in the beginning. Everything has to run ‘lean’ to get things moving.
But once things start moving – and moving faster and faster – it often becomes impossible for one or two people to keep an eye on every aspect of running a business. Then you will need to take some extra help on board.
So here are three signs you’re reaching that critical point, backed up by my personal experience. If any of the following sound familiar, it might be time to start headhunting.
Sign #1: Your growth exceeds your self-confidence
In any case, I hope that anyone who starts a business does so with some degree of confidence. You should start a business because you’ve clearly identified a problem that no one else is solving – or solving properly – and you think you’ve found the best way to solve it.
That’s what we did with Roof Maxx. When we started, no one offered roof renovations in the living space. Most of the industry focused solely on selling replacements that homeowners didn’t always need. The product we discovered and brought to market helped these homeowners get years of extra life from the shingles they already had, for up to 80% less money than a roof replacement would have cost them. Needless to say, we unequivocally believed in the value of what we were doing.
But as you grow, your inner voice begins to sound different. Eventually you stop thinking “I know what I’m doing” and start asking yourself, “Am I still doing things the right way?”
When Todd and I started the company, our team was small and nimble. We knew everyone who worked with us, so it was easy to get a bird’s-eye view of what was happening and take quick action to resolve challenges. But the more customers we served and the larger our dealer network became, the longer we noticed it took us to make strategic decisions. There were just more moving parts to consider.
So if you notice that your ability to take charge is taking longer, that’s your first sign. It means you’re starting to doubt yourself and you may need an outsider’s perspective.
Sign #2: You are developing leadership needs that are outside your skillset
Every founder eventually learns to function in a chaotic environment, because that’s what every startup is. But to go from startup to national brand, you have to be able to organize that chaos. Sometimes that requires skills or experience you don’t have.
In our case, we realized that Roof Maxx needed more than our passion and determination. It took even more than the decades of experience in the roofing industry that we had between us. With a dealer network spread across the country, it became clear that we needed a way to share and standardize information for them. That was a technology problem, and we were roofers. We didn’t know the answer, but we knew it had to come from someone who understood data better than we did.
That person ended up being Matt Ferguson, who we ultimately appointed as our CTO. He was not a roofer and was not part of the Feazel family. But he was an expert in data engineering. He currently leads our development of an AI-enabled training system that supports our dealers by connecting them with learning modules tailored to their individual needs. This has been instrumental in standardizing the experience our network provides to homeowners across North America.
Sign No. 3: Pride affects your progress
If you use the steps above, it will be a lot easier to identify your need for outside help. But admitting that someone else might be able to do some of your work better than you can can be a lot trickier.
Many founders can see the signs that it’s time to bring in new talent, but they still wait too long to do so because they fear it will make them less valuable to the company they founded. They don’t want to feel replaced.
We are all human, and we all become emotionally attached to the things we have put a lot of time and effort into from time to time. In those moments, I find it helpful to remind myself that the ability to let other people in is a strength, not a weakness. We need to talk about the value of vulnerability in business as often as we talk about the value of vision. Because in the end you need both to make it.
Welcoming new talent into your C-suite doesn’t weaken you or your co-founders. It protects you by keeping you and your business from burning out. You can read more about that in this article about how we managed to keep Roof Maxx a family business without that dynamic affecting our growth over the years.
Sign up for the Entrepreneur Daily newsletter and get the news and resources you need today to help you run your business better. Receive it in your inbox.