# Working On The Business

Most people in business groups say the same thing when asked how they leveled up: *“**I hired, stepped back, and started working on the business instead of in it.**”* It sounds smart because it’s straight from the E-Myth playbook. And in some situations, sure, it helps. But it assumes one important thing: **that the business model is already correct.**

Mine wasn’t.

Before returning to painting full-time, I helped a startup grow from $1,500 in out-of-pocket expenses to a $30 million valuation in 18 months.

We had 60 employees.

Good people. Sharp people.

But no one else saw the opportunity because they weren’t close enough to see it.

I didn’t scale by stepping back. I scaled by **moving closer.**

Everyone else was focused on generating leads, pushing volume, managing sales teams, and building bloated infrastructure with high overhead.

> Stepping back just disconnects you from the problem.

I identified that 3% of actions accounted for the majority of results. Once in motion, I eliminated the remaining 97%.

This was not achieved through delegation. I eliminated the remaining 97% by omission, not by delegation.

Had I been "working on the business" instead of in it, I would have missed it all*.* **That opportunity only presented itself because I was there.**