118: How to Stop Being the Bottleneck in Your Business // Karen Sergeant

Pattern of Purpose

Business growth can, at times, feel like you’re on a roller coaster — anticipating the unknown is scary and invigorating. Before you know it you’ve become addicted to the act of climbing and bottoming out — so addicted, in fact, that you feel you have to steer the cart at all times.

Aside from not being a very effective way to run a business, this makes stepping away and trusting a team quite difficult.

As my final interviewee, Karen Sergeant, helps us to understand how to prevent bottleneck behaviors and bridge the gap between good ideas and good execution. Working in the CIA, she cut her teeth in what she calls “the hardest parts of the world” and is using those skills to help small businesses. A pro at surfing ambiguity and uncertainty, Karen has great tips for delegation, creating systematic frameworks, and keeping business fun while also effective.

In this episode we talk about:

• Walking away from a dream job;
• The differences in operating as a freelancer and a business owner;
• What boring money is and why we overlook it;
• How you know if you need a COO, a project manager, or an integrator;
• Deciding what ideas to pursue; and
• The switch from time-based pricing to value-based pricing.