I’LL JUST DO IT MYSELF” IS NOT A SCALABLE BUSINESS MODEL

There is a special kind of delusion that hits smart, capable people when they start a business or step into a leadership role. Their famous last words are, it’s fine, I’ll just do it myself.

In the beginning, it seems noble and efficient, even practical. Who has time to teach someone else when you can bash it out in 15 minutes and move on with your day? You are a multi-talented high performer with some basic technology for assistance, a vision board, and 3.5 unread books on productivity. What could go wrong?

Well… everything.

Turns out, “I’ll just do it myself” is not a scalable business model, it is the express train to Burnout Central, with stops at Overwhelm and Resentment. The journey usually starts with good intentions and a to-do list that breeds overnight. You begin your business or step into a leadership role full of energy, ambition, and just enough hubris to believe you can juggle all of it forever. 

At first, you can. But then you find yourself updating the website, answering client emails, drafting contracts, planning social media, running payroll, and sourcing office snacks, all before 11 a.m. Oh, and let us not forget the subtle self-praise that creeps in, no one else can do it the way I can.

The truth is this behaviour is not sustainable, neither is it strategic nor effective leadership that anybody should emulate. This is how professionals and founders trap themselves. If it takes two hours to train someone, but only 20 minutes to do it yourself… well, logic says do it yourself, right? Except, no. That math doesn’t add up when you are doing that same task 14 times this month. That is 5.6 hours you have just poured into something that someone else could have learned, and owned, while you sip a coffee in peace, or better yet, grow the damn business!

Delegation is a time investment and you could not pay me to agree that it wastes your time! You spend a little now to save a lot later, and yes, the handover might feel messy at first. 

Let’s talk about bottlenecks. If every decision, task, and approval flows through you, congratulations, you are the problem and the process. It is flattering to feel indispensable… until you realise your business cannot breathe without you and that your “superhero syndrome” is actually slowing down the very thing you are trying to build. Real leadership is not about doing it all, we must build up the systems and the people who can. That means creating SOPs instead of heroic to-do lists, trusting someone else to send the email, run the meeting, solve the problem…even if they do it differently.

The hardest part of scaling is the surrender, the letting go of control, perfectionism, and the constant high of ticking a box yourself. This is where real growth, scale, power, freedom happens. The best leaders hand over ownership, build trust, train well and remove themselves from the weeds so they can focus on the big picture. 

So the nnext time you catch yourself muttering, “It’s fine, I’ll just do it myself,” pause and ask yourself if this task a good use of you, or are you standing in your own way?