Why Your Need to Do Everything Is Killing Your Business

“Working ’til you drop is not a badge of honor — it’s a sign of founderitis: that well-intentioned tendency for founders to believe they need to be a part of every decision and to solve every problem,” says David Olk, in his first column for Inc.

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How many founders do you know who take a proper summer vacation? Or, who even grant themselves one day off, device-free and completely checked out and not checked in to email, Slack, and a multitude of constant communication platforms? I bet you can count them on your hand.

Founders are wired to think about the business all of the time. And that’s a risk, both to you and to your company’s success. The best founders know to ask for help.

Let’s be crystal clear — your job as a founder is to: inspire, hire, retain, and never run out of money. So avoid getting consumed by founderitis. Here’s how:

1. Hire Experts

Recruit talent (and by “talent” and “employees” and “resources” I truly mean business partners) who can help you manage and scale each area of the business, and have the track record to show it. Hire experts you can trust implicitly to meet goals and put out the fires without micromanaging. The best founders pull themselves out of the business slowly by hiring capable people who can run things and make smart decisions. The founder no longer has to be involved in the daily happenings if they do not want to be. It becomes a choice. They trust their team (sometimes more than themselves). Pay them well if they out-perform.

For four more tips on how to avoid Founderitis, see the full column as published here on Inc.com.