Phil Risher tells small-business owners to stop doing the work themselves and delegate to managers so they can focus on strategy. He maps a four-step ladder: technician, sales/service manager, operations director, visionary. The shift from doing the work to running the business is what separates owners stuck at the same level from those who grow.
The biggest difference that we see with small businesses that go from six figures to seven figures to even eight figures is that this business owner gets off the truck. What that means is that if you have you and another technician try to swap out you for a different technician and have two technicians, and then you can level up to being the sales manager and the service manager. And then what this will allow you to do is to not be stuck doing the work, but actually elevating yourself up the ladder. Then you can get a service manager and even a sales manager. And then you can be the operations director or COO or vice president type thing. Then you can elevate even more to the visionary out of the integrator role. So the biggest challenge, I would say, for you in 2024, is work on getting off the truck and start working on the business and not in the business.
