177 You Are the Bottleneck (And It’s Costing You More Than You Think)

Welcome
Hello. Welcome back to the podcast. Today’s episode is a spicy one, and it came from a moment I had on stage at Clinic Growth Live. We were looking at the biggest constraints holding people back, and I assumed it would be numbers, marketing, or team. Then the final option came up. You being the bottleneck. Literally everyone stood up. So, we are going there.

Episode summary
Most clinic owners think the biggest problem is more patients, better staff, more time, more marketing, or more CPD. But often the real constraint is the owner. When everything runs through you, the business cannot grow past your capacity. You end up stuck in delivery mode, fixing, deciding, covering, and holding all the responsibility, while telling yourself you will work on the business “when things calm down”.

I share what this looked like for me in my clinic, and again more recently in Thrive when I was preparing for maternity leave. I also talk about why this happens, because you care, you have high standards, and you built this from scratch. Those traits got you here, but they can also be the exact thing that holds you back from the next level.

I walk you through the real cost of being the bottleneck, how it shows up day to day, and the simple question that can start shifting you out of problem solving mode and into CEO thinking. I also invite you to a free masterclass at the end of April where I will help you identify your biggest bottleneck and what to focus on for the next 30 days.

Key takeaways

• If everything runs through you, your business cannot grow past your capacity.
• Being the bottleneck often looks like being the decision maker for everything, being heavily clinical, and stepping in to “quickly fix” instead of training properly.
• High standards are not the problem. The problem is when perfectionism slows momentum and stops your team stepping up.
• Your 7 out of 10 might be someone else’s 11 out of 10. Demand standards, put systems in place, then get out of the way.
• If you cannot switch off, you are not running a business, you have a job.
• Your business can only grow to the level you are willing to let go of.
• The question to ask every time you step in to fix something is, “Is this something only I can do, or is this something I have not trained properly yet?”
• Trying to fix everything at once usually means nothing changes. You need focus, not more effort.

If this episode hit a nerve, good. Awareness is the first step. Sit with this question today: where am I the bottleneck in my business right now? No judgement, just honesty. And if you want help figuring out what to fix first, come and join me for the masterclass at the end of the month.

Treat Your Business podcast is proudly sponsored by MBST, the groundbreaking technology revolutionising recovery and rehabilitation. Offering a non-invasive, drug-free solution for musculoskeletal conditions and nerve injuries, MBST works at a cellular level to stimulate regeneration. Expand your services and deliver long-term patient improvements without increasing your workload.

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Resources & Links:

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Katie Bell: Hello. Welcome back to the podcast. Today's episode is something that. I was stood on stage at clinic Growth Live, and we were going through some questions that would reveal the biggest constraint in everybody's business who who were in the room at the time.

[00:00:19] And in my head, I thought that the biggest constraint would be not this one. Okay. So there was four different ones. It was about knowing any numbers. And [00:00:30] being clear about the key numbers that you need to know in your business and there's different levels as your business grows. Okay?

[00:00:36] But there's some key numbers that you absolutely need to know. And I thought most people bury the head in the sand now. Don't get me wrong, There's a lot of people that stood up in the room for that being the one that's called the highest. And then we look at, leads and inquiries and new patients.

[00:00:52] And so marketing and I thought this is going to be a popular one. Like a lot of people aren't doing marketing. They are burying the head in the sand. [00:01:00] They're posting randomly on social media. And I thought, we're going to get those people stood up in the room for that. And then the third one was the bottleneck around like team and capacity and structure and that sort of thing.

[00:01:11] And we got lots of people signing for that one. I thought, oh, okay. That's interesting. And I got this in my head where I was going to direct the conversation. And then the final one was about you, you being the bottleneck in the business being the one that all the decisions come through, that you are absolutely at capacity.

[00:01:29] And [00:01:30] it was about that you have no time to be the owner, the CEO you are just in it and busy all the time. And literally everybody in the room stood up and I was like, internally thinking shit, I need to think about what I'm going to talk about now, because this was not what I was planning.

[00:01:46] And it was a, it was not a real shock, but it was a real moment of, wow. Okay. Actually, yes, we have all these other problems in our business that we're trying to solve all the time about trying to get clearer on our numbers, trying to be better at [00:02:00] marketing, do more marketing, be more consistent with our marketing.

[00:02:03] And we're trying to recruit, we're trying to hire, we're trying to get the right people in the right seats, but actually. We, the person sat in the chair that is running and owning this business is the biggest barrier to to your success. And it's costing you more than you think. So whilst ever today might feel a little bit uncomfortable and really completely unplanned for me, because it was something that I.

[00:02:27] I heard and I saw it couldn't grow live and I thought, I [00:02:30] need to talk about this. And actually I need to go one step further and I need to help people around this more. And I'm going to , and I'm going to give you an invitation at the end of this episode. I've had to face this multiple points in both of my businesses and you have to acknowledge that you might be the reason.

[00:02:46] No you might not be. You are the reason that your business is performing as it is right now. So if it isn't growing or if it's growing slowly or it's growing massively, I'm sure that's the word, but it's growing with kind of [00:03:00] no clear structure. It feels very heavy. We've not got the cash reserves.

[00:03:05] We haven't got the cash flow coming in. We might not have the numbers the inquiries, the leads. It's because of you. Now before you switch this off and think, oh, it's not me. It's all these other factors. It's not about blame, this is just about awareness. And because when you see it, you can actually do something about it.

[00:03:25] Because if we don't acknowledge this then you have a job and you [00:03:30] don't have a business. You must create freedom. For you to really live the lives that you want to live. So without further ado, let's dive this spicy episode about you being the biggest bottleneck in your business.

[00:03:47] Welcome to the Treat Your Business podcast, the show for clinic owners who want real, honest advice and tried and tested ways of doing things. I'm Katie Bell, and this is the new era of bigger insights and bolder [00:04:00] conversations to help you grow a clinic and a life you love. Let's dive in.

[00:04:05] Okay, so most clinic owners think that our biggest challenge often is that I need more patients, I need better staff.

[00:04:13] I need staff to fucking do what I'm tell I'm asking them to do, and convert and retain and treat people like I would treat 'em and have good conversations and I just need more time, Katie. And when I've got more time, I'll be able to do this and I just need to go on these extra CPD courses. And therefore I'll be able to, make more money.

[00:04:29] [00:04:30] But in reality. The biggest bottleneck in the business is often the owner. And I don't say it lightly because it's a story that I have lived time and time again. And I remember being in a position, it actually in, quite recently, within Thrive and quite a long time ago, within my clinic where. Like everything runs through you.

[00:04:53] Like I had to make all the decisions from how much I spent on toilet [00:05:00] roll to which. Bed fixer people would come out and sort the electrical plinths to how many hours the cleaners did. Or if it was me doing the cleaning to who I was hiring, who I was firing, what memberships I was putting into the clinic, the pricing changes, how I was communicating that to staff, the decision of the color on the walls, like everything.

[00:05:25] Had to come through me. And I was also way [00:05:30] too clinical as well. So I was seeing 60, 70 patients a week. I was doing six days of clinical. And I was still holding onto all those decisions and I had some people working for me in the early days. And I thought I was being really helpful. Because I was, I was trying to as the owner, like I had to own these decisions and I, I couldn't pass things on and I was actually just being a complete control freak and I said I wanted be team.

[00:05:54] 'cause I recognized that I was, we couldn't grow any quicker without team, but I actually didn't [00:06:00] let them do anything or really take ownership of anything. I quickly realized in the clinic that I was the bottleneck, particularly, first of all, from a capacity point of view. Every time I was in the treatment room, the business was stagnating. I was earning cash, I was making the business money, but I wasn't able to work on the business. So we had this, we grew like we did grow, but it was mainly because I was working about 25 and a half hours a day.

[00:06:25] I was absolutely exhausted and I was, completely on this [00:06:30] adrenaline of just keeping going from one week to the next. There was not much fun going on at the time. And then more recently in Thrive, as I was preparing for my maternity leave, I recognized I was the bottleneck in some some seats within the business because a lot of the responsibility was on my shoulders.

[00:06:50] And for me to go away and have a baby and have some protected time meant that I had to relinquish quite a lot of control over [00:07:00] pretty much every single task in the entire company. Including all of my my clinical work as well. Had to go. My teaching of classes had to go, like it all had to go. So I've lived it.

[00:07:12] I've read this and I know how hard it can be, and when you don't have something on the horizon like. Maybe a change to your family unit or that you are moving abroad or something that's going to force you into making some big decisions. You just [00:07:30] drip on and go on and on and you don't really do anything about it.

[00:07:33] And in fact, actually tomorrow night we have we have a fabulous couple that have just joined our foundations program. They are podiatrist, husband and wife, and, they, in fact, no, they haven't joined foundations. They've joined Elevate and our Elevate program. So they are quite a significant sized business.

[00:07:50] But they are her in particular he is the manager of the business. He runs it, but she is working a billion [00:08:00] hours a week and they are going to have to make some big decisions quite quickly for. Health reasons because they are very overwhelmed. They're very stressed. They're very exhausted.

[00:08:13] And I'm actually doing an SOS call with them tomorrow night at half six. And we don't, this is normally what we do when people join the program, but I felt so strongly that I need to have a big word with them in my. My way, of course, which will be very kind. But very [00:08:30] bold at the same time because the lady in particular is unable to make quite a lot of sessions because she's going on these CPD courses.

[00:08:36] This lady's been qualified for 20, 30 years. She doesn't need to go on more CPD courses. She can send her team and she can get team in place to be running some of these services. But the decisions that they are making right now is keeping them in this cycle, which is. Very heavy. It's very exhausting, and actually it's quite critical.

[00:08:54] And I said to Hannah I said I want to do an SOS call with them because they are they have got [00:09:00] to decide to spend their time differently, so this might feel familiar for a lot of you listening to this, but being the bottleneck often shows up in you are the one that everybody comes to for the decisions.

[00:09:13] So is this are you the one that is still really having to sign off? All and still some of the decisions in your clinic? Do you feel like things don't run properly unless you are there? What is the saying? Grinding the gears? Like [00:09:30] making it happen. Are you still heavily clinical? So if you weren't there, the revenue in the business would drop significantly.

[00:09:40] You. Just quickly fix things instead of training properly. Are you this person? I used to be this person. I used to be there. If you want something doing, just ask a busy person. In fact, I lie, I'm massively still that person. And I also, I'm that person of, I can just do it fast to myself. But that is a [00:10:00] very shortsighted attitude and it's the martyr in you that comes out that's just nobody can do this.

[00:10:06] But actually, when we don't spend the time to empower our team or put structures and processes in place we are just a problem solver. We are like taking the monkeys back off, everybody. Trying to fix it and we don't pass the monkeys back and say, this is not my monkey. This is not my circus. I need you to solve this.

[00:10:22] What would you do if I wasn't here? And do you struggle to switch off even on days off? You're constantly checking your phone. The first thing [00:10:30] you're do in the morning, you're looking at your phone, you're looking at emails. It is Monday morning. It is 9 54 when I'm recording this. Two days ahead of it being released on Wednesday.

[00:10:38] A little bit late to the party. But hey, here we're we move and I am yet to in fact, I actually don't even know where my work phone is. I feel like it's in the house on charge somewhere. I'm yet to even open my emails. That won't be the first thing that I do on a morning because I go down a rabbit hole and I've got very clearly in my diary what my [00:11:00] routine was this morning.

[00:11:01] Alfie is in his pram outside of the windows right here going to show you there. He's look at that. Asleep outside the doors. It's beautiful day. Don't worry, I'm not leaving him in freezing cold weather. But even if I was, it's really good for them. In Sweden, don't, unlike nor where they bunk up outside all the time.

[00:11:20] Anyway, I digress. He's outside sleeping. I have literally 35 minutes to record this episode, which is late because it's going out on Wednesday and I've given my team no time to edit. [00:11:30]But here we are. We move. This is mum life. Apparently I am no longer somebody. This is that organized anymore, but. If you struggle to switch off even on days off, you check your emails you're just on all the time.

[00:11:43] And also you feel like you need to be needed, but you are also exhausted by it. So it's like a part of you actually struggles with relinquishing control because then who are you? And what if the business does really [00:12:00] well and you are not there? Then what role are you going to play? And for many of you.

[00:12:05] Because you've never sat in the CEO seat, you don't really know what you need to do. When you sit in the CEO seat, you're like, what am I going to fill my time with? How am I going to feel fulfilled? What am I going to be doing all day long? Oh, believe me, there is a lot of shit to be done, but it feels uncomfortable because it's a role that you have not played and not played like a hundred percent of the time.

[00:12:28] So this [00:12:30] doesn't happen because you are. It's not because you're doing something wrong, it happens because you really care. You have high standards. You built this baby from scratch. You want things done properly. And for a long time that's what's got you where you are today. These traits are exactly what's got you here.

[00:12:48] But at some point, these are the exact things that then hold you back in taking that next level. I used to, and I guess I'm sometimes conflicted around this because [00:13:00] I very much was a perfectionist. It had to be absolutely like everything needed to be perfect, and in a lot of ways, a lot of what we do still has to be.

[00:13:11] Exceptional. We have exceptional as a value in my clinic and we have be the 5% as a value in Thrive. So I'm not here for mediocre shit. I'm not here for average work. I'm not here for average team. I'm not here for average standards. But what I had to realize was that my [00:13:30] seven out of 10 was most people's, like 11 out of 10.

[00:13:35] As a perfectionist, as somebody has who has really, really high standards, I was slowing things down. I was getting in the way. I was stepping in too much. I was not delegating, I was redoing work. I was looking at it going I could have done that better and then doing it better. But also I thought it was quicker to do it myself.

[00:13:54] And actually you have to demand the [00:14:00] standards that you. Want your team to then deliver on, and you have to be like a dog with a bone. And you don't need to accept anything less than the standard that, that you deserve and desire. But you also have to recognize when sometimes your 10 out of 10, 11 out of 10 is actually slowing momentum and slowing progress down.

[00:14:23] And you need to just let that shit go and somebody's going to get from A to B in a different way than you are going to get from [00:14:30] A to B. As long as they've got to B and I've not had to drive that bus, then I'm happy then I'm good. Now, they might get from A to B and we.

[00:14:38] We reflect and we observe and we go, I think there's probably this way that you could have got there and I think that would've helped you and dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. But you can't just keep stepping in and solving all the problems. So there is a moment here where absolutely demand the standards that you want, you deserve, that you desire, that you've worked really hard for, put processes [00:15:00] and systems in place to ensure that happens.

[00:15:03] But then get out of the way and let them do it. Put systems in place that they have to report back in, or you do random checks or whatever it is that you wanna do. But allow them to learn. Allow them to make a few mistakes and fix them. And this is where most clinic owners get stuck because what has got you to where you are today, whatever level you are at listening to this podcast is not what is going [00:15:30] to get you to the next level.

[00:15:31] If you are running a business that is 5,000 pound a month revenue, 15,000 pound a month revenue, 25,000 thousand, 75,000, a hundred thousand. You are not going to create the next step by doing what you are doing today and behaving in the way that you are behaving right now. So the real cost of being the bottleneck, and this is what, not what we see straight away.

[00:15:56] If everything runs through you, your business can't grow [00:16:00] past your capacity, right? Your business simply cannot grow past your capacity. You only have 24 hours in a day. Most of you have to sleep for some of that time. Most of you have to eat, get kids, drop 'em off, do shit. So your business can't grow past the capacity that you have.

[00:16:17] And if you're stuck in the treatment room, it ain't going to go very quickly. Your income then plateaus if everything runs through you, your team never really fully step up and you feel like [00:16:30]you are always on. So even when you are away, it's oh, I am going to like you are waiting for the message of somebody being off sick because you are going to have to step in and solve it.

[00:16:40] And for most people in this zone, we call it the danger zone at clinic growth live. And it is the danger zone. It's like where you are still being pulled back into the business to deliver. Because we haven't got the infrastructure yet in place that's going to free you of that load. And I remember this in my clinic, like there was a point in time when it was [00:17:00] still me that would have to go in and cover the classes when people are sick or it was still me that was like going to have to go and cover the patients if a member of staff was off sick and they got there.

[00:17:07] It became a point in the business that I said to my practice manager at the time, I said this is the end. Like I am no longer going to be able to cover, like it stops now we have to find a different solution. 'cause the longer that I just keep being brought back in the slower growth and the ability this business has [00:17:30] to move to the next level.

[00:17:31] So your business can only grow to the level you are willing to let go of. If you don't wanna be the person covering sick all the time, let go of it. Make a decision, put that infrastructure in place, cancel classes. There were times when I said to my business manager, there is nobody else, so we're going to have to cancel the class because my time is actually that important.

[00:17:52] And this is where it gets a bit uncomfortable because sometimes being needed feels really good. It gives you control, it gives you certainty, makes you feel [00:18:00] important, but it also keeps you stuck. I used to think the business would fall apart without me, and then I decided to take a mini retirement.

[00:18:08] I feel like the business was like three years old at this point, and I decided to book four weeks at the company and go across the world so I could literally like not fix it. And I was like, just, you wait. It's all going to go to rat shit. Nobody's going to be able to cope. We're not going to make any money.

[00:18:25] Ah. And we made more profit that month than any other month in the whole of the year. [00:18:30] So it turns out it just couldn't grow with me in the way I allowed my team to step up. So what actually needs to change? Not everything, it's just how you see your role. Because the shift is from doing, to deciding, from fixing, to building, from being needed to creating that independence.

[00:18:50] And this is where you start stepping into this CEO thinking. It's not perfect, but it's intentional. So I really want you [00:19:00] to just do something super simple this week for me. Whatever level that you're at, I want you to notice every time you step in to fix something, and I want you to pause and ask, is this something that only I can do?

[00:19:11] Or is this something I haven't trained properly yet? And the one question, this one question alone will help you start to change how you operate. So every time you step in to fix something, is this something that only I can do or something that I actually haven't trained somebody [00:19:30] properly on yet? I haven't got a system in place?

[00:19:32] There is basically nothing in your business that you couldn't train somebody else to do. Like there, there are great people out there that can do your role. There are elements when you sit in your zone of genius and it becomes harder to find that person, but you are replaceable. So when you realize you're the bottleneck, most COAs then don't suddenly go, oh, okay, now I get it.

[00:19:59] But you, [00:20:00] like nothing really changes. You still feel stuck. So what do you actually fix first? Do you fix your marketing? Do you fix teams? Do you fix systems? Do you fix pricing? Do you fix capacity? And what happens then is that you just try and fix everything and nothing really changes. So what I've decided to do, I'm very excited about this because I've not done this for probably two years now.

[00:20:23] I'm relaunching masterclasses. We are back, baby, and I'm going to [00:20:30] be running a masterclass at the end of this month, the end of April, because what I see over and again is that you, it's not that you aren't working hard, it's that you are working on the wrong things. So inside this masterclass, I'm going to, whatever level you are at, I'm going to help you identify.

[00:20:45] Where your biggest bottleneck is right now, what fixing it would do for your time and your income, and then give you this really clear focus of what you need to do in the next 30 days. Okay? So instead of spinning the wheels like [00:21:00] all over the shop, you can actually just move forward. It's completely free, no charge to you, no obligation.

[00:21:05] I just want as many people who are feeling like they are the biggest barrier to this business moving forwards in whatever capacity. To be at this masterclass. It's going to be great. It's for 90 minutes. I can't even remember the date, but there's a link below that you can click on the link and it's going to take you to a very simple sign up page, so you'll get the zoom link and that's [00:21:30] all you need to do.

[00:21:30] Super, super simple. Do you need to prepare anything? No, just turn up. You're busy enough? Okay. We will figure it out on the day. If you'd love to be at the masterclass, head to the link below. I wanna see you there live. If you are like, oh, it's fallen on a day where I've got clients, cancel them. I dare you.

[00:21:50] This is the biggest move you need to make is to get yourself out of all of these seats that you are sitting in. So if this episode has hit a nerve, [00:22:00] good, I'm happy about that because awareness is the first step, and I want you to just sit with this question, where am I? Bottleneck in my business right now.

[00:22:12] Don't judge yourself, but you need to know this to be able to start leading differently. And in the next episode, and masterclass at the end of the month. 

[00:22:25] Thanks for listening to the Treat Your Business podcast. Hit subscribe [00:22:30] now and keep joining me for bigger insights, older conversations to help you build a clinic and a life you [00:23:00] love.