A business can grow around the founder’s energy, relationships and ability to solve problems. The warning sign is when too many decisions still need to pass through one person. Approvals slow down, managers wait for direction and the founder becomes the escalation point for routine issues.
The answer is not simply to delegate more. Start by identifying recurring decisions, clarifying decision rights, defining ownership and creating simple review mechanisms. The objective is to build an organisation that can make good decisions without requiring the founder to be present in every conversation.