The Ecomcrew Ecommerce Podcast E120: Getting Fired From My Own Company
"The reality is that one day you wake up and you realize that you're the bottleneck in your own business, and it's time to be fired." - Mike Jackness on handing over the reins of the company to someone else
Have you ever had that feeling when you just know you're about to get fired from your job? In 41 years I have never been fired--I worked hard enough to not be in that situation--and it's certainly uncomfortable dealing with this issue with a company I started.
You might remember me doing an episode about my goals for 2018, and surprisingly, those were the very goals that led me to feeling I might get fired from my own company. One of my goals is to double in revenue again this year, and at this point in our business, doubling will require a lot more effort than it did last year. That means I, as the CEO, will have to hand off tasks I enjoy and focus more on high-level (and sometimes less exciting) business development efforts.
The thing is, I enjoy doing the lower-level stuff. I like the dopamine hit of a successful Facebook ad or PPC campaign. But when I hired Jacqueline, our Director of Ecommerce, she knew that I needed to give them up in favor of the high-level stuff, so in order to get me to do them, she is essentially firing me from the informal marketing position I always loved.
Here are some points I talked about in this episode:
- A look back at my 2018 goals
- The moment Jacqueline began taking over my job
- How hard it is to hand off some responsibility to focus on higher-level stuff
- Plans of a "Day in the Life of Mike Jackness" podcast episode
It feels weird, to say the least, to no longer be doing what I love in order to do the less sexy but necessary functions of a CEO. But in business there will always be trade-offs, and if giving up dopamine hits is what I need to do to achieve my goals, then I'd gladly do it.
Resources mentioned:
MyEcomCrew My 2018 Goals Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
As always, thanks for listening to this episode. Until the next one, happy selling!