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Small business owner burnout starts on the treadmill. Jon and Ryan on the owner bottleneck, the glass ceiling, and the first steps off it.
How the Synergy Operating System builds profitable sellable businesses that run without you.
(00:01 - 00:32)
Welcome to From Burnt Out to Bought Out, the podcast for business owners who are tired of being the hardest working, lowest paid employee in their own company. I'm Jon, joined as always by Ryan, and together we've spent years inside owner-led businesses helping founders go from running on fumes to running a business that actually runs without them. Every episode we break down the real problems nobody talks about: the burnout, the bottlenecks, the blind spots. And we show you what it looks like to build a business that's profitable, sellable, and doesn't need you in the building every day to survive.
(00:32 - 01:02)
Whether you're grinding through a plateau, thinking about an exit, or just trying to take a vacation without your phone blowing up, you're in the right place. Let's get into it. Alrighty, let's get into it. The treadmill. What is it? What's a treadmill? Describe it to me. Treadmill is when an owner operator just continues to run and run and run. Everything is reliant on him or her. Nobody can do what they do.
(01:02 - 01:47)
They work 80 hour weeks, hardly ever see the family. It's the worst paying job in the world. You know, as Mike Michalowicz puts it, it's Frankenstein's monster eating all this cash. And it's the farthest thing from what they wanted when they first started their business. Right? It's just a never ending, vicious cycle and it feels so stressful and taxing. It's like, you know, being down on the bottom of the ocean and you're running out of air. You can barely keep your head above water at some point, you know? You're maxing out credit cards to pay payroll.
(01:47 - 02:12)
You can't grow because it's going to cost you money. You can't stay where you are because you're not making any money. And you know, you look in the mirror and you're like, oh, this is the worst, worst job ever. Why did I do this? That's the treadmill. Yeah, incessant. Incessant requests from all sides, not being able to manage them. I think we've all been there, right? Like every business owner has been there.
(02:12 - 02:32)
And I think, you know, it's about finding your way out of it. But like, how does it affect the business? If somebody's on the treadmill, I think they're working really hard, right? They're putting all this effort in. And sometimes it makes them feel good, right? I'm, you know, if I want my business to succeed, I'm going to work so friggin hard to make it succeed, make it get to where it needs to be.
(02:32 - 02:59)
But is that actually helpful? Like when you're sprinting on the treadmill the whole time, what's the effect on the business? You know, it's like a badge of honor. People say that, right? You know, and they say, I put in 80 hours a week. I'm working hard. You know, that's man's work. That's getting up at four o'clock in the morning and coming home at eight o'clock and grabbing a Bud Light and falling asleep in the chair and doing it all over again.
(03:01 - 03:48)
I've heard it the other way where so-and-so, they vacation, they work bankers' hours, they do those things and it's like coming from a place of hatred. But that hatred is really, that person wishes they were in that case. Their business ran that way. The business ran without them. They didn't have to be in every single thing. So I guess, you know, it's absolutely because it's called a bottleneck for a reason, right? The owner is the bottleneck for a reason. Every single decision needs to go through the owner and wait for the owner. We see this all the time where companies will run, but we can't make a decision because we have to get the owner's answer and if the owner's not allowed, we're sitting and waiting and we're losing money. We're not getting jobs.
(03:48 - 04:19)
We're not spending money. I mean, seriously, does the ink have to be blue or black in that pen? Or can someone make a decision? Or do we have to wait for the owner to say that? Right. And that's what it feels like, you know, so that the employees are handcuffed and the owner, whose name is generally on the, you know, the company card and the company sign, is saying, what are you doing? You made the wrong decision. You're an idiot, you know? And then, you should have done it this way and that way and that way.
(04:19 - 04:45)
And that's not fair to the employee and it's not fair to the business and that's not a business, right? No, it's not setting up the organization so it can run itself. That's what the objective should be for all business owners, right? That's the goal. The holy grail is the business should be able to run itself. And that is, as you mentioned before, what we all envisage: we're sitting back, making a whole load of money, drinking a cocktail, maybe it's a mocktail.
(04:45 - 05:13)
And the business runs itself. And you can't do that if you're just constantly sprinting the whole time and you're not delegating responsibility to other people. I mean, I don't wanna fix it now, I just wanna really describe what it is so people understand, you know, if they are on a treadmill, you might be thinking, hey, oh, this is great, I'm just working real hard. But actually what you're doing is you're stifling the growth of the business because you're not allowing people to have the responsibility they need to grow it themselves.
(05:13 - 05:39)
You can't grow a business by yourself. You know, have I got it in a nutshell there? You do. I mean, it's called a glass ceiling for a reason, right? If owners can only take their business so high, right, until they reach a level where they can't grow the business anymore because they're limited. Right? Time, effort, whatever it is, they're turning through employees.
(05:39 - 06:01)
They don't have processes. It's, hey, go figure it out. Right? That's not a process. You know, and then you're doing it wrong. I'm stupid. Yeah. Welcome to your new role. Go do stuff. Good luck. Yeah. I'm an accounting clerk that does HR, that, you know, does inventory out in the field, that has to translate, that has to, you know, pick flowers or whatever that might be, right?
(06:01 - 06:26)
Like, that's not an accounting clerk, right? It's, and, but they've had to do that to help out wherever is needed because that's usually the attitude as well as, hey, I need you over in this job. Right? That kind of stuff. So yeah, it's the opposite of what it is. Because, you know, in a well successful business, it's not owner dependent. In fact, it's the opposite of that, right?
(06:26 - 06:51)
The business can run itself. And yet, you know, the owner knows everything, has worn every hat, understands what's going on and comes into meetings, worthy of the time, to make sure that the biggest decisions are being made correctly by the team and things are teaching moments, you know, you live and learn, those kinds of things, and then go back to wherever you are on the golf course, beach or hiking or whatever.
(06:51 - 07:14)
And you have peace of mind that the business is running. So now let's think about the opposite because that's the treadmill. Right? And like, when you get it to that stage, that's actually where it's a viable asset, right? Like, if you're on the treadmill and you're just running and working away, you're the sole reason that business exists. You can't sell that. You're selling yourself, right?
(07:14 - 07:41)
So most of our client base, most of the people who start businesses envisage turning around and selling it at some point, and you can't sell it when you're just the sole owner, proprietor, sprinting away with the team underneath you that really doesn't know how to execute and deliver what the business delivers. So like when you get to that stage where you can step away, that's actually when it's an asset and it is sellable.
(07:41 - 08:10)
So people have to take that step to be able to get there. Jon, we see this all the time where someone has a million dollars in sales, it's owner dependent and they say, I want to sell it for $2 million. This is my business. A crew of three, I have 1099 subcontractors, I'm a roofer, wherever, and they think that their business is worth $2 million. I'm going to say something right now.
(08:10 - 08:35)
No one is going to pay $2 million for a job. That's what you're giving them. $2 million for a job. Just like you can't grow food in the desert, no one's going to pay you $2 million for a job. Right. Yep. Yep. Quite right. Okay, so I mean besides the business, being on the treadmill, like what about your personal life? Like what are some of the things that are affected there?
(08:35 - 09:10)
Right? Because you're working, working in the evenings, you're answering emails. Like that surely has an effect on people and their ability to grow and just the quality of life. Well, to quote the great Matt Foley, he'll be living in a van down by the river. Excellent. So yeah, another glimpse of the future for us. Right. I'm thrice divorced. I'm a motivational speaker and I live in a van down by the river.
(09:12 - 09:54)
That's what your life will be. 80 hour a day work, you know, 80 hour work weeks. You know, you're not going to see your kids. The dog's going to forget you, you know, and you're not going to have much of a home life. And when you do, you are there, you're thinking about business. That's not what we're doing it for. Like being present, like, got a two year old, being present for my two year old as he experiences the world for the first time, that is irreplaceable, right? You can't miss those moments, you know, taking your son or daughter out for a round of golf, taking that extra vacation, you know, those are the moments in life that we all live for.
(09:54 - 10:17)
So if we're on the treadmill the whole time, like what the hell are we doing it for if we can't actually afford the time to do it? Like we yearn for those things and those moments. So, oh, great example of you. How old are you, Jon? Too old. Right. So you got a two year old, no fifties, you got the two year old, you're not going to miss those moments, but you're certainly going to forget them.
(10:18 - 11:14)
Yeah. That's for damn sure. He came along like screw retirement. That's why I'm on this podcast with you. I was like, well, okay, time to check out. Oh shit. Nope, maybe not. Yeah, no, it's, you miss the moments, you miss holidays, you miss birthdays and major celebrations and, wait, even if you're there you're not there. Yeah, right, and that's the thing. So there is an opportunity to get off this thing, you know, but if you keep doing what you're doing, you know, that's the definition of insanity. Keep doing what you're doing, expecting a different result. Yeah. So let's solve it. Ryan, 25 years plus business experience, you helped me solve being on the treadmill. How do you stop it?
(11:14 - 11:38)
Because you can't just stop the thing, right? And remember, we've said that people's identities are tied to the treadmill because they're working so hard. They're building their business. I got to go, go, go, go, go. It's difficult to actually switch the thing off. We've all seen those Instagram clips where you switch off a treadmill and they go running into the wall or it shoots them off the back or whatever it is. How do you stop it? What's the key?
(11:38 - 12:05)
I think the first key is that you're not that important in your business. You got to realize that other people can do what you do. Maybe it's 80% of what you do, right? But it's going to require 0% of your time. So would you rather have something done 100% of what you would do with 100% of your time or 80% of what you do with 0% of your time, right?
(12:05 - 12:29)
And so the first thing you have to do is develop a process or process, if you will, right? Where you get out of it. You don't add more things to your multi-colored hats that you're wearing, right? You start taking things away from your plate, giving it to Jon here and saying, okay, I'm going to show you how to do this. You're going to show me how you're doing it.
(12:29 - 12:57)
I have a degree of confidence. I trust that you're going to get this done. 80% of what I'm going to do, fantastic. And then we're going to work on that 20% later on. But now I've just taken away five hours of my work. Now I have five extra hours to do something with that. So maybe I develop another process. Maybe I go home early and surprise the family and have lunch and then figure out that Uncle Tito's been over there for three months because I've been, you know, working 80 hour weeks.
(12:57 - 13:28)
Right. Right. Or time to go buy a shotgun. That's right. Or, you know, you develop another process and another process, another process. And soon you have time to work on the business. You know, it's a great expression: too many people are busy working to make any money. Right? You make the money working on the business, and for every hour you work on the business, we'll say 10 hours of working in the business.
(13:28 - 13:52)
And pretty soon now you have efficiencies, now you have cash coming in. Now you have the next idea that you can go ahead and build another revenue stream on and make some more money and then hire somebody to take care of the day to day so that you can continue to build relationships and build sales and the funnels and trust the people that you've hired and that you paid that they can do the job because they are following your processes.
(13:53 - 14:19)
That's the best thing you can do. Hire people whose strengths are your weaknesses. Hire people, document it, step back and work on more important things. Exactly, and document it with a video, right? I don't have time to write it down, fine. Videotape it. Have somebody take notes. Have somebody else write it down for you. And then you check it and say, yeah, it looks good. Right, or revise this.
(14:19 - 14:48)
You forgot that, dummy. Now go back and do that. It's easy these days. The AI platforms we've got that monitors what you're doing and it just spits it out into whatever format you choose. You can even upload a video, transcribe it and it'll write it all out to a full SOP. So it doesn't need to be a barrier. Writing an SOP, that's the worst. I hate that. Can somebody just write the SOP on this? It sounds like the most boring activity on earth and it goes right to the bottom of the to-do list.
(14:49 - 15:13)
But it's actually super simple. It really is. I mean, with technology today, you know, you don't have to write it. You just have to carry out that activity and, you know, have AI or whatever it is watching over your shoulder. Tons of platforms out there as well. I'm sure we can put those into the notes section of the podcast. But yeah, we've used a bunch of them, makes it really nice and simple.
(15:13 - 15:44)
So the treadmill starts to slow down because your peak demand time is being delegated to well-trained members of staff. As you say, you gotta work on that 20%, right? You gotta make sure that we're increasing the capabilities and training and teaching those people. I mean, that's a constant ongoing opportunity. How do you stop it ramping back up? Because people used to sprinting, they slow down a little bit, feels a little bit wrong.
(15:44 - 16:38)
Can they just go off and sprint in another direction? Is there, you know, what's the next step for them? Is it application of a framework maybe to say, okay, well, here are the things you should be working down to grow your business. And I'm kind of leading you into an operating system conversation because I know we're gonna cover that in future podcasts, but people need to understand that, you know, there's a path here. Yeah, there is a path there. And you got to know where you're going first. Right? You need to have a vision. You need to say, okay, I want to have three locations and 15 crews in the next six years. Right? And then that's where you have to start leading your organization to. If you don't aim at something, you're not going to hit it. And there's so many businesses and business owners that I talk to, they don't even have a budget. Right? They have no idea what they're doing, right?
(16:38 - 17:09)
It was just collecting money and there's money in the bank sometimes. Right? I mean, that's not a plan. Well, it's a joke. Yeah, I mean, you gotta hear this. That's a spending account, an allowance account, right? So it is. So build up a budget. Well, I built the budget three years ago, didn't stick. Well, that's not a budget problem, that's a consistency problem, that's a you looking at it problem, that's a you on the treadmill problem, and guess what, that would go by.
(17:09 - 17:29)
Because when I'm on the treadmill, I'm just worried about the next sale, I'm just worried about the next job, I'm worried about how I'm gonna do this and how I'm gonna do that. Whereas when you can step off the treadmill, because you have time, you can say, okay, where do I want this treadmill to lead us to? How high do I wanna go? I want, some people want to be a $50 million company.
(17:29 - 17:55)
So I want to be the best $5 million company in the world. There's nothing wrong with either of them. Right? It's just a matter of planning it out and then taking it step by step. You know, what's the best way to eat an elephant? One bite at a time. That's right. It is. So key takeaways then, you know, why people should listen to this podcast and keep people coming back.
(17:56 - 18:25)
It sounds like step one, make sure you hire the right good people and delegate responsibilities to them. Two, make sure you've got SOPs so you can delegate those responsibilities in the right way so the job is executed well. And then three, start to look at the vision and how their business is going to achieve that vision. So look at the operations, look at the finances, look at how they sell and market. So those three things, are those the key takeaways?
(18:25 - 18:59)
Yeah, I think there's one step before everything that you just said. Look in the mirror and say I've got a problem. I need an intervention. Right? And I'm the problem. Right? And then make sure that you've hired good people around you, not necessarily family folks, right? But you have good people that you can do all those things for. And then get your standard operating procedures as SOPs, right?
(18:59 - 19:20)
And then get a vision and you'll get there. But you have to admit that there's a problem for us and you got to take the first step. Great. I mean, if we can help, obviously people should reach out to us. Happy to help. Give any free advice that we can and walk them through the process. Good subject. Good first podcast. Love it. All right. I'm good.