Mike AndesFounder, Augusta Lawn Care and Homeworks · Founder of Homeworks and Augusta Lawn Care

Checking Your Phone on Vacation Is a Million Dollar Warning Sign

15 May 2026 · 1 min

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1:10

In this solo talk, Mike Andes warns entrepreneurs that the habit of constantly checking their phone while on vacation is a red flag indicating founder‑dependency. He explains that many owners become the bottleneck of their businesses because they love being needed and have built the company from zero, handling every decision themselves. This dependency often caps growth at around $1 million in revenue; moving beyond $3 million requires delegating to people, processes, and systems. When a founder feels compelled to monitor the business even on vacation, it signals that the company lacks the operational infrastructure to run without them, jeopardizing its value as an asset. Andes urges founders to build reliable systems and talent so the business can operate independently, turning the vacation‑phone habit into an early warning to address these gaps.

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when you cannot take a real vacation without checking your phone constantly. As you grow the business, you have been rewarded for this in the past, which is constantly staying busy, packing every single minute, jamming it full of productivity. And you get addicted to this feeling of being useful. And this is why many times I actually see owners become the bottleneck of their business, is they love the feeling of being needed, 'cause they have the answer for every single aspect of the business since they grew it from zero. And this is many times the thing that limits you to go from $1 million to $3 million. Because at $3 million, there's going to be things you don't know how to do that need to get done. And you'll have to rely on people, systems, and other talent inside the organization to get those things done, not yourself. And if you get going on vacation, you're constantly looking at your phone all the time. You started the business so you can spend time with your family, and now financially you can actually do it. And here you are looking at your phone constantly. And if that's happening, use this as an early warning signal that we don't yet have systems in the business. Because if you have to be so important and your answers and you solving every problem in the business is so important, the business is not yet in a place to run without you. And if it can't run without you, it's not going to be a great asset to keep yourself.