319: Stop Building a Business You Have to Keep Rescuing

Speaker A: You're listening to the Black to Business Podcast, an educational podcast providing black entrepreneurs with the tools and resources to start and grow their businesses. We chat with vetted black entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and business owners as they provide tips and resources to help take your business the next sector. I'm your host, Bet Marshall. Hey there, and welcome to the Black to Business Podcast. I'm your host, Moni T. Marshall. Have you ever had one of those days in your business where you get to the end of the day and you're like, good thing I caught that. Something you almost missed, and somehow you caught it right before it became a bigger issue? And listen, sometimes that's just business. Things happen. You figure it out and you keep it moving. Honestly, I think a lot of entrepreneurs are really good at that. You give us a problem, and we're going to figure out a way, especially in the beginning, when you may not have all the money, the people, or even know exactly what you're doing, yet you learn how to work with what you have. And that resourcefulness can take you pretty far. But I was thinking about what happens when you get too good at saving the day, because every once in a while is one thing, but what happens when good thing I caught that becomes a regular thing in your business now, you're always keeping an eye out for something you're stepping in because you, uh, already know that if you don't, it probably won't get done the way that it needs to. And somehow you always make it work. The interesting part is that from the outside, nobody may even know any of this is happening. The work got done, the customers got what they needed, everything looks fine. Meanwhile, you're sitting there thinking, y' all have no idea what it took to make that happen. And that's what I really want us to talk about today. Because, uh, there's a point where you have to even ask yourself, is my business actually working, or am I the reason it keeps working? And I know you're a business owner. Of course, you are a big reason the business works. And so I'm not talking about removing yourself from the business or expecting everything to run perfectly without you. I'm talking about those places where you already know you can't take your eye off the things for too long, because if you do, something is probably going to happen. And sometimes you can manage a business that way for so long that you don't realize how much managing you're actually doing. And that's where I want us to go today because. Because being able to figure things out is a great skill set to have as an entrepreneur. I just don't want your business to always need you to figure out the same things. So today we're talking about how to stop building a business. You have to keep rescuing. This is a deep one, so let's get into it. So when I talk about constantly rescuing your business, one of the first things I want you to think about is how often you've become the backup plan. Because, because you know how it goes. Something needs to get done, and maybe technically it's not yours to do anymore, but you're still thinking about it. You might even have a little mental note like, let me check on that before the end of the day. And ah, sure enough, you check. Everything might actually be fine. Or you might be sitting there like, see, I knew I needed to check on that. And so now you're stepping in. And so that's what I mean when I say you've become the backup plan. There's a way. Something is supposed to happen in the business, but somewhere in the back of your mind, you already know that if it doesn't happen that way, you'll catch it. And if I'm being honest, that can be hard to recognize as a problem because technically things are getting done. Whatever needed to happen happened. But you're just tired because you're, uh, carrying more of the business than what shows up on your actual to do list. And that's the part I think can sneak up on you. You may have handed something off, but mentally you're still carrying some responsibility for it. And yes, you are the owner. You're going to care more about what happens in your business. There are going to be situations where something goes left and you do need to step in. That's just part of it. But I'm talking about the places where you already know. You can't completely take your eye off things. And you know what I'm talking about. And that one thing where somebody says, I got it, and you're like, okay, but you're still going to check. So I want you to pay attention to that because maybe there's a reason you don't fully trust that it will happen without you. And if you're always the person who catches everything, after a while everybody gets used to you catching everything and you get used to it too. And so it becomes a part of how the business works. And that's why I think a good question to ask yourself is, what in my business keeps working because I keep catching it. And that's different from asking what's broken? Because something doesn't have to be completely falling off or falling apart for it to need your attention. Sometimes it might look fine because you're the one holding it together. And this can become a lot more noticeable as the business grows. When you're first starting out, uh, maybe keeping everything in your head, it worked. You were close to everything because you had to be. Then the business got a little bit bigger, and there's more happening now, but you're still trying to keep that same mental grip on every single thing, and that can wear you out. So now you're wondering why you're still involved in something you thought you had moved past, or you're trying to focus on one thing, but part of your brain is somewhere else thinking, I need to make sure that that got done. And that's when I would look at where I'm still serving as the backup plan. Maybe something needs to be handled a little bit differently. Maybe somebody technically owns something, but you haven't fully let them own it. Or maybe the business has simply grown past a way of oper rating that made perfect sense when it was smaller. You don't have to figure all of that out right now, but first notice where you're. Where you keep stepping in, and think about maybe the last couple of weeks and those times that you caught something and thought, uh, good thing I checked that. Does that feel familiar around that part of the business? Because that's what we're looking for. We're looking for the places where rescuing has started to feel normal. And also there's another place where that feeling can get very real for some business owners. Sometimes you're not trying to make sure a task is done or something doesn't fall through. Sometimes you're sitting there trying to figure out how to make the money work. And that's a whole different kind of rescuing. Because when it's money, you're looking at the month like, okay, how am I going to make this work? And if you've been in business for any amount of time, you've probably had a month where you've had to ask yourself the question, I know I have. Things may be moving a little slower than you expected. And so now you're thinking about what you can do to bring in some money. What do I need to follow up with? Is there something I can push right now? And somehow, again, you figure it out. The money comes in, you take care of what needs to be taken care of, and you can breathe a little bit like, okay, we're good for now, and sometimes, uh, that's just business as well. Every month isn't going to go exactly how you thought it would, especially when you're still trying to build some consistency. There are going to be times when you have to adjust. What I want you to pay attention to, though, is when that feeling starts to become familiar. So another month comes around and you're back thinking, okay, what can I do to bring some money in? And you figure it out again. And after you've done that enough time, I don't want us to only celebrate the fact that we figured it out. I want to know why we keep having to. Because you can get really good at financially rescuing your business, too. You learn how to hustle a little harder when things start to get tight. And listen, being able to generate revenue is. It is a skill. But I don't want the business to always have to get to the point of needing to be saved before we're thinking about revenue. And there's a certain feeling that comes with waiting on that one payment, too. You know, when you're checking your bank account like, okay, did they pay that invoice yet? Because once that money comes in, you can breathe a little bit. So once the payment does come in, uh, you're like, great. But if we're right back in the same position a few weeks later, I think you might want to take a closer look at that. And I know the natural response is, you know, I just need to make more money. Maybe sometimes. You absolutely do. But I would add another question. What does the money keep having to rescue? I'm going to repeat that. What does the money keep having to rescue? Because if you bring in more money and keep ending up in the same position, I don't know that we can keep assuming more money by itself is going to fix it. You can have that really good month you've been waiting for and somehow still feel the same pressure sooner than you thought you would. And that's when I would want to understand, okay, what's actually happening here. And listen, I'm no money expert, so I'm not about to sit here and tell you what your margin should be or how much you need to be having in the bank. And that's totally not my lane. But as the business owner, I do think you need to know when you're having the same financial experience over and over again. Sometimes we're so focused on getting through it that we don't realize how familiar it has become. I just need to get through this month. And you do. Then a Little while later, you hear yourself saying the same thing. Okay, now it's time to look into that. And so the answer could be that you need more consistent revenue. It could also be that you don't completely understand what's happening with the money once it does come in. And you may even get to the point where you're like, you know what? I need somebody who understands this better than I do to sit down with me and help me look at it. And that's okay, too. You don't have to know the answer right away. You. You do need to recognize when you've been here before, though. And I want to be careful about something else, too. So putting your own money into the business doesn't automatically mean that you're rescuing it. You may decide to invest your own money because you're building something, and you've made an intentional choice to do that. That's totally different from looking up every few months and feeling like, okay, here we go again. I have to put more money into this business because the business can't cover what it needs to cover. And so that's when I'd go back and look at how long this has been happening and what keeps bringing me back to the same place. Because once you stop treating every tight month like a completely separate situation, you may start to see something you couldn't see while you were busy trying to make the month work. And really, that's the bigger lesson here. Money is one place where we do this, but we can do it with almost any. Any problem in the business. Something happens, we handle it, and we move on. Then some version of that same problem shows up again, and at some point, you have to ask, have I actually solved this? Or have I just gotten really good at dealing with it every time it comes back around? And that's what I really want you to sit and think about. Because I think there's a difference between solving problems and handling problems. Sometimes we're just really good at handling it. Something happens, we take care of it, and everybody just moves on. Then a month later, some version of it's back, and you're like, didn't we already deal with this? Yeah, we dealt with what happened. We may not have dealt with what caused it, though. And I actually get why. Because when you're running a business, sometimes you don't have time in that exact moment to sit down and figure out what. Why something happened. If a customer needs something, you take care of the customer. You handle what's in front of you. The problem comes after everything settles down. Because once the issue is handled, you feel that relief. You're like, okay, that's done. Then you're on to the next thing. And so nothing changes until it happens again. And so let's just say something gets missed with a client, you catch it and you take care of it. Become before it becomes a bigger issue, everything is fine. And then a couple months later, something similar happens. Uh, but the details of the situation are different enough that it feels like it's a new problem. But when you really look at both situations, maybe nobody was completely clear about who was supposed to handle that part of the process. Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Because if that's the actual issue, telling everybody, let's make sure we don't miss it again probably isn't going to do much. Everybody, of course, means well, and everybody's going to say, okay. But then people get busy. And so a few months later, here we go again. And that's how you can end up solving what feels like a different problem every time when the business is actually showing you the same old issue. And I think being really good at problem solving can almost work against you here, because you know how to handle it. You can jump in, you can take care of it, and you can get back to what you were doing. So that's what you do. But every time you do that, you're absorbing the cost of the problem. Maybe you lose two hours you didn't plan to lose, or, uh, maybe it's just a mental energy of having to deal with something you thought you already handled, like putting out those fires all day. Either way, you're the one adjusting. And because you keep absorbing it, the business never really has to change. And I want to stay here for a second. The business doesn't have to change because you do. You work a little later, you remember one more thing, you add something else to your plate, and you're the one making the adjustment. So the business gets to keep operating the same way. Because every time there's a gap, you step right on in and fill it. And that's a big part of rescuing that. I don't think we always see. Sometimes the reason something come continues to quote, unquote, work is because you've gotten really good at covering whatever isn't working. And after a while, that gets expensive. It might not get expensive on paper, but it gets expensive in your time and your attention. And your attention is something your business needs. There are things that actually need you as the owner. So if you're spending a good chunk of Your attention, making sure the same issue doesn't happen again. That's attention you don't have for something else. And that's why I don't only want you asking, okay, how can I fix this? I want us asking, why am I fixing this? Again, the word again can tell you a whole lot because sometimes you already know where these problems are too. They're the things that make you say, I am so tired of dealing with this. Okay? And that's probably, there's probably something there because if you're tired of dealing with it, chances are, ah, you've dealt with it enough times for there to be a pattern. So once the immediate issue is handled, go back. Not necessarily right that second, you can take care of what needs to be taken care of, then come back to it when you have room to think about it and look at what happened and ask what would have to change so I don't have to handle this the same way next time. And that's where we start moving out of rescue mode. Because now the business gets to learn something from what happened. And I really think every rescue should teach you something. You figured it out. Okay, that's good. That's great. What does the business know now because of it? What needs to be different next time? And the answer might be small. Sometimes, uh, one little change can keep you from dealing with the same old headache for, let's say, another six months. It doesn't have to become this huge project every single time something goes wrong. Because the goal isn't to build a business where the problems never happen. Good luck with that. If you're trying to do that, something is of course always going to happen. I just don't want us to keep having the same relationship with the problem. Something happens, we learn from it. The business gets a little better because of what happened. So if there's something in your business right now, this keep coming back, I wouldn't only think about what you're going to do the next time it happens. I look at what the problem may be trying to show you. Because sometimes the things you keep having to rescue is pointing directly to something the business needs. Which brings me to the last part of this. Instead of asking how to get better at, uh, rescuing the business, maybe the better question is, what does my business keep asking me to build? And when I say build, I'm not saying you need to go find some new software or create this whole complicated system. Please don't leave this episode and go sign up for seven other tools. That is not what I'm saying I am talking about looking at places where you keep having to step in and asking what would make that rescue less necessary? Because a lot of times the problem has already been giving you clues. If you constantly have to remember something, maybe that thing needs somewhere to live other than your head. And that's it. That's what the rescue was trying to show you. And I think we sometimes make fixing the business bigger than it needs to be. Something isn't working. So immediately we're thinking we need a whole new system. But I want you to hold on. Maybe you might need a new system. But first, understand what actually needs to change, because you can spend a lot of time building a solution to the wrong problem. Go back to that question from earlier. What keeps you working? Only because I keep catching it. Now take it a step further. What would need to be true for me not to have to keep catching it? And that's where it gets a little practical. So if you're the only person who knows how something gets done, what would somebody else need in order to handle it without calling you every single time? If you're constantly checking behind something or what would make you confident enough that you don't have to keep going back to look? And that's the kind of thinking I want you to do. We're trying to take some of what you've been personally carrying and figure out what, uh, the business needs to be able to carry instead. And I want to make an important distinction here. So the answer isn't always delegation. Sometimes we hear conversations like this and immediately think, okay, you know what? I just need to hire somebody. Maybe you do. But hiring somebody into a problem doesn't automatically solve the problem. Now you just might have two people who are confused. If the way something works isn't clear, adding another person doesn't make it clearer. Figure out what the business actually needs before you start throwing solutions at it. And the same thing goes for automation. Automation is great. I love, love, love to talk about automation. But automating a process that doesn't make sense just helps you do something that doesn't make sense faster. So understand what you're trying to solve first. And that's why I want you to start seeing these rescues as clues. When you hear yourself saying, why am I still doing this? Pay attention to that. There may be something there that needs to change. And what the business needs from you next may not be more effort. That is important because entrepreneurs are, uh, very used to effort being the answer. Something happens, and our instinct is, okay, I just need to stay on top of this better. And you probably can for a while, but there's only so much more attention you have to give. And at some point, the answer can't be more of you. And that's where the business has to start getting stronger. And getting stronger doesn't necessarily mean getting bigger. It means the business learns how to hold something or some of the things that you've been holding for it. Maybe information finally gets out of your head and somewhere people can actually find it. Maybe somebody fully owns something you've been halfway letting go of. The answer really depends on what keeps requiring you to step in. And please don't listen to this episode and decide that you're going to fix every single thing you've ever rescued. That is how we create a whole new problem. And so I want you to just pick one. And maybe it's that thing that keeps happening the most. Or, uh, maybe there's something that doesn't happen often, but every time it does, you're like, I cannot keep doing this. I want you to start there and ask what would have to exist in this business so I don't have to keep personally saving this. And really think about the answer. Because you might realize the solution isn't nearly as big as you thought. I know. Oftentimes I be thinking, okay, this is going to be such a huge undertaking. And then when I figured out, I'm like, that wasn't so bad. So with that, you might also realize that you've known what needs to happen for a while. You just keep handling the problem because handling it was easier in the moment. And I get it. Sometimes fixing the bigger issue takes an hour, and doing it yourself takes, let's say, five minutes. So in that moment, you're like, let me just do it. Five minutes later, it's done. Great. But if you're saying, let me just do it every week for the next three years, that five minute solution got really, really expensive. At some point, you got to give yourself the time to build what the business keeps asking you for. And I want to be clear about something. The goal isn't for your business to never need you. I don't even think that's realistic for every entrepreneur. Your business may need you, your customers may want you involved, and there may be parts of the business that you genuinely enjoy owning. That's totally fine. I just don't want the business to need you because it hasn't learned how to function without you constantly catching what's going wrong. And that's a different kind of being needed. And when you start dealing with some of these things at the source, you may finally have a little more room to focus on the parts of the business that actually do need you. And then when something does go wrong, because something eventually will, you can handle it without sitting there thinking, okay, here we go again. So before we wrap up, I want to think back to, let's say, the last 30 days in your business and think about one time you had to save the day. Maybe you're already thinking of one, and so you stepped in, you figured it out, and you made it work. Okay? Now ask yourself, have I rescued this before? And if the answer is yes, that's the one thing I want you to spend some time with. And don't worry about everything else right now. Just look at that one thing and ask, what would have to change so I don't have to rescue this the same way again? Maybe you don't know yet, and that's totally okay. But first start by noticing it, because I think a lot of us are so proud of our ability to figure things out that we don't always stop and ask why we're still having to figure out the same thing. And honestly, being resourceful will always matter. You're an entrepreneur, so I'm not going to sugarcoat that something is eventually going to happen that you didn't see coming and you're going to have to make it work. That's just part of the game. But when you figure something out, let the business get something from that experience, too. Let something improve, let something become clearer. Let the next time be a little different because of what you've learned this time. Because the goal isn't to never have to rescue the business. Sometimes you will. I just don't want you to keep having to savor from the same old thing. And with that being said, thank you so much for tuning into the Black to Business podcast. We are so happy to be a part of your entrepreneurial journey. As always, we appreciate you for spending time with us, and my message for you is to keep building boldly and keep pushing the culture forward. Later, Sam.