Letter to a young CEO of a small, growing company: Do this or stop growing

I sent this email to the CEO of a small, growing company recently. And it seems to be advice I find myself giving to leaders of small companies. He had asked me for advice about him potentially getting training in programming so he could have a better grasp of his company’s production.

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At this stage in your company (as you have less than 10 people and are starting to see growth) I would encourage you to put every ounce of energy you have into the “growth” side of the business. 

The trap most leaders fall into, as they begin growing their company, is to fall back into working “in the business.” Almost every leader has the skills to help do the work. Heck, even I used to know how to code, which makes everyone at Dragon Army laugh when I say it now, but it’s true! Fortunately, early on at my first company, I had one partner that was a great developer and one that was a great designer, so I could focus on growing the company while they focused on making sure we built great websites.

The point is, currently the ONLY person at your company that can think about growth is you. And growing a company is HARD. Starting a company is relatively easy, and even getting enough revenue to have a few employees is manageable for most. But continuing growth is extremely hard and if you aren’t focusing your a$$ off on it, you’ll find it to be next to impossible.

So as you think about potentially learning the basics of coding, which on the surface sounds like a good idea, I would highly encourage you to PLEASE DON’T. Put every moment of time you have toward growth. Keep finding things that aren’t growth-related and get them off your plate and on to someone else’s.

Do that, and you’ll keep the momentum you’ve been building for the last year. Get distracted and this time next year, you’ll end up at the same size you are now or smaller. I’ve seen it happen time and again. And since I know your goal is to grow your company, you have to fight to make sure that doesn’t happen.