Stop doing and start delegating

Who this is for

Founder led lower-middle market companies with 5 to 50 million in annual revenue where the founder is still in many day to day tasks.

The quick answer

List tasks by value and by who should own them. Move scheduling, invoice follow ups, routine approvals, and most internal status meetings to the team. Keep only sales moments that need your weight, key hires, investor and lender relationships, and decisions that change direction.

The method in seven steps

Make the task inventory
For one week write every recurring task. Tag each item as customer, team, finance, or admin.
Score value and owner
Mark high value items you must keep. Everything else gets an owner by role. Use your decision rights chart to support the change.
Create standard plays
Write one page checklists for scheduling, invoice follow up, routine approvals, and status updates. Give the team the tools and access to run them.
Hand off with context
Explain the why, the standard, and the common edge cases. Shadow once then step back.
Set guardrails and thresholds
Publish dollar limits and exception paths so the team can move without asking every time.
Track in a weekly view
Use your scorecard to show cycle times for quotes, collections, hiring, and fulfilment so you know the handoffs are working.
Audit and refine
After four weeks review what moved well and what needs more clarity. Remove yourself from calendar invites that no longer require you.

Example

A founder shifted calendar management, collections reminders, and routine purchase approvals to the team using one page plays and dollar thresholds. Time spent on customers and partners increased and cash improved.

Pitfalls and fixes

Delegation without guardrails. Add thresholds and exception paths.
Hand offs without training. Shadow once and give a checklist.
Sneaking back into tasks. Remove yourself from invites and approvals.

Checklist

Task inventory
Value and owner score
One page plays
Guardrails and thresholds
Weekly scorecard checks
Four week audit