The Treadmill of busyness

I get to talk with many small business owners during my week who almost universally mention how busy they are. They are ordering inventory, running a register, brewing beer, solving customer problems, dealing with vendors, and training an endless stream of new employees. When I ask if we can talk about finding solutions to some of these challenges, the answer is almost invariable, “sure, when I get caught up on what I’m doing now.”
When I think about how they got so busy, I don’t know if they will ever be “caught up”. This is what I call the treadmill effect. Small business owners and managers often take on much responsibility for the daily tasks of their operation because they don’t:

• Have employees or other help
• Want to relinquish control
• Feel they can trust their employees to do the job as well as themselves

It should go without saying that this treadmill effect perpetuates the busyness and unless a conscious effort is made to break out of the pattern, it may never happen. And, unfortunately, a business that is not moving forward is dying.
The challenge I find is planting the seed that there are ways to jump off the treadmill and clear a path to progress. It is understandable that this may be easier said than done, especially for a very small business who cannot afford to hire staff, even part-time. But when it comes to creating a successful business, an owner should be focused on the larger picture of efficiency, growth, and profitability.
An entrepreneur who is also the company’s primary employee has a limited range of roles he or she can play. An ideas person who is always working in the trenches can lose the creative vision and drive that is inherent in and essential to the entrepreneurial spirit.
So, what are some solutions to this treadmill effect? A few obvious methods are:

• Delegating tasks to employees or other support people
• Training existing employees to take on greater responsibility
• Hiring additional staff for specific tasks
• Reviewing processes and procedures to create efficiencies

But, what else is out there? What can a learning and development professional say to a business owner to get them off the treadmill? What are the challenges of modern business that perpetuate the treadmill effect?
I hope you’ll join the conversation.