If You’re Still Doing Everything Yourself… You’re the Bottleneck

Relationship Building

Monday, June 02, 2025

You’re not the assistant. So stop acting like one.

Your business shouldn’t fall apart when you take a day off. Week 1 fixes that.

If your business lives in your brain, your inbox, and a pile of scattered thoughts…

You’re not running a business.

You’re just surviving one.

And look — that might’ve worked when you had five clients and one Google Doc.

But now? It’s a bottleneck with your name on it.

So let’s change that.

This week in Referral Boss, we kick things off with something most entrepreneurs put off until they’re buried under to-do lists and too many “just checking in” texts.

🧱 Week 1: Build Your Team Before You’re Ready

And by “team,” I don’t mean 14 full-time hires and a Slack channel that never sleeps.

I mean:

A system so simple, your future burned-out self or a 16-year-old intern could step in and run it.

This isn’t busywork.

This is infrastructure.

Let’s break it down:

✅ Step 1: Build Your Trello Command Center

You’re setting up four columns. Not five. Not twenty. Just four.

✔️ To Complete — Task is assigned, waiting to be worked

✔️ In Process — Someone’s on it

✔️ To Review — It’s done, but needs approval

✔️ Completed — Signed, sealed, delivered

Bonus if you want to get fancy:

✔️ Inbox/Ideas — Where you brain-dump future brilliance

✔️ Waiting on Client — Because chasing someone who ghosted isn’t productive

This is how you stop being the air traffic controller for your own to-do list.

✅ Step 2: Assign Like a Boss

Delegation is not just yelling “Can you do this?” into the void.

Write the task clearly.

Drop the Google Doc or Loom link.

Set the due date.

Use the comment section in Trello — not your text thread at 11:49PM.

Need to be notified? Click “Watch” on the card.

If it’s not urgent, it doesn’t belong in a text.

If it needs a process, it belongs in Trello.

You’re not the bottleneck anymore.

✅ Step 3: Organize Your Google Drive

No more “Final_final_REALversion_USE_THIS_onePLEASE.pdf” files buried in Downloads.

Structure it like this:

✔️ /VA Access — Things your team needs to see

✔️ /Final Deliverables — Client-ready, go-live approved

✔️ /Assets — Reusable content, templates, graphics, captions

Then link to those files in Trello. So everything stays connected and findable.

Want to scale? Start by not making your team dig through digital junk drawers.

✅ Step 4: If You Don’t Have a Team Yet… Pretend You Do

Let me be clear:

This setup isn’t just for teams. It’s for you.

Because guess who’s the most inconsistent, overworked, easily distracted team member in your company?

Yeah. You.

Start tracking your tasks in Trello.

Move them through the board like you would if you had a team watching.

Leave notes for future-you like breadcrumbs.

Because one day, when you do have a team — you won’t have to rebuild your whole brain from scratch.

⚡ Why This Matters

If your business depends on memory, motivation, and caffeine...

That’s not a strategy.

That’s a breakdown with good branding.

But if your business runs on systems?

✔️ Tasks don’t get lost.

✔️ You don’t get stuck.

✔️ You can take a day off without the whole thing catching fire.

This is the week you stop doing everything yourself.

Not because delegation is sexy, but because leverage is survival.

📌 Your Mission This Week:

✅ Set up your Trello board

✅ Create your Google Drive folders

✅ Assign a task — to a VA, a contractor, or future you

✅ Watch your stress level drop 10 points