Lean In

This past week, I was speaking with a new entrepreneur about how they're thinking about scaling their business.

They're in a deal-driven business, and were excited to have closed 3 projects already.

Even better?

MORE deals were still in the pipeline,

With investment partners champing at the bit to get after more with her.

But where some founders would see dollar signs, this founder was hesitant:

"I don't want to get over my skis.

I've learned how the deal side of the business works,

And I want to grow and do more deals

So I can grow big enough to hire help,

But I need to get more confident on the operations side.

I need to document processes so I'm able to delegate them later.

Basically, I want to slow down now to speed up later."

Sounds reasonable, right?

This MIGHT be reasonable.

But it could also be disastrous.

So I asked her a few questions to figure out which one it was:

LP: Why do other investors want to invest in more projects?

Founder: Because they've seen me in my past job and trust me. And they're excited by the deals I just closed.

LP: That's awesome. But how long do you think those folks will stay feeling excited like that?

Founder: Hmm... That's a good point. I'm not sure.

LP: And what about your market? Is investor interest pretty constant, or does it ebb and flow?

Founder: Oh, it definitely ebbs and flows.

LP: And given the current market conditions, what would you say is on the horizon? An ebb or a flow?

Founder: With all the tariff and supply chain stuff, probably an ebb.

LP: Will your ability to make money on each deal be impacted by an ebb?

Founder: No, not really.

LP: Well then it sounds like it might be very important to lock in these deals while you can! Okay, so what about getting help? What's preventing you from doing that now?

Founder: Well, I'd like to get some SOPs in place first, which will take time. Plus the cost; I could technically afford it, but I'd rather keep the money now and fill up my cash coffers.

LP: Interesting. If you hired help, how many months of runway would you be left with?

Founder: Probably plenty. Maybe 12?

LP: And how long will it take you to write SOPs?

Founder: I'm really not sure.

LP: Why?

Founder: Because I'm not sure what would be in them - I'm still figuring out my processes and I'm not sure what I could delegate.

LP: Do you think it would help or hurt your ability to figure out your processes and what to delegate if you already had a VA?

Founder: Probably help.

LP: So why are you waiting?

Founder: …I guess I don’t have a great answer for that.

Exactly.

Here’s the thing:

Great entrepreneurs have to know when to lean in.

They don’t create extra steps for themselves before saying yes to growth.

They don’t pause to build the perfect backend before taking advantage of a wide-open front door.

In moments of opportunity, hesitation looks like caution — but it acts like resistance.

If the deals are real, the demand is real, and the cash is there… don’t slow yourself down in the name of “getting ready.”

Especially when the opportunity is potentially temporary.

You’ll have time to build the plane as you go,

So, when the wind is good,

Take off.

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