You're the best salesperson, the final decision-maker and the one everyone still goes to, and growth has quietly become dependent on how much you personally can carry. If you can't take two weeks off without the phone going, or you're still the bottleneck on decisions your team should own, that's usually the sign.
That's the operator trap, and it's what I help founders break out of.
I'm Martin Stead, founder of Loom Consultancy. I've spent 30+ years in business, including a decade as MD of a facilities management SME, growing turnover by 250%. I left corporate life in 2021 because I kept seeing the same problem in ambitious founders: the business had grown, but they hadn't been able to step back from it.
I work with founders to break that dependence, using a clear process for where they're stuck and what needs to shift. Delivery is either one-to-one through Freedom Mentoring or through Board of Equals, a peer board where founders challenge each other's thinking on real decisions.
You didn't start your business to be its busiest employee, so together, we deliver less of you doing everything, more of the business actually growing.
If that sounds familiar, it's worth us having a chat.
