George was the perfect employee when you had a team of 8
He handled sales calls, trained new hires, managed inventory, and even helped with payroll.
Now you have 30 employees and he’s drowning.
The growth trap nobody talks about:
When your business is small, you need Swiss Army knives.
People who can wear multiple hats and jump between roles seamlessly.
This works great until it doesn’t.
As you scale, you need specialists.
A sales rockstar who closes deals while he sleeps.
An operations manager who can systemize everything.
A controller who knows tax code inside and out.
Your loyal generalist no longer has a clear role.
They were OKAY at five things but great at none.
Here’s the hard choice every owner faces:
1) Keep them in a floating role that adds confusion to your org chart.
2) Provide resources, training, & support to become a specialist.
3) Help them find a better opportunity that needs their generalist skills.
Most owners choose option one because it feels loyal.
Or they try to force option 2.
But you’re not doing anyone favors.
George knows he’s not adding the same value.
Your team sees the lack of clarity in roles and accountability.
Your growth stalls because you’re trying to fit square pegs into round holes.
There’s an old business truth I reference constantly:
“What got you here won’t get you there.”
This applies to your systems, your strategies, and yes… your team.
Your part-time bookkeeper becomes a full finance department.
Your personal involvement in every sale becomes a sales machine you stay out of.
Maybe George also feels that he needs to move on, but doesn’t want to let you down.
Making these tough but necessary decisions is critical to building an 8-figure business.
Want my exact framework for identifying which people need to go and making the transition smooth?
Tomorrow’s Cash Flow Club email covers:
- The 3-question test that instantly reveals problem employees
- Why keeping wrong people costs $150,000+ per hire
- Exact scripts for difficult conversations
Join Cash Flow Club for $29/month to get weekly strategies from my $50M/year franchise portfolio.
Cheers!
Brian