Why waiting to bring on support is costing you more than you think
Summer is here! Q3 has begun, and if you’re anything like the high-performing founders I work with, you just came off a long holiday weekend without truly unplugging. You checked in, followed up, and responded “real quick” to several messages. Because if you didn’t? Things pile up and projects stall, and you’ll be drowning even more than you already are when you return. I’m sure you’re also wondering how, and where, along the way, you became the bottleneck to everything in your own business. You know you need support, but you keep convincing yourself that you’re coping, you’re getting by, and you’re telling yourself: “I’m not ready yet.”
I want to challenge that “not ready yet” gently, compassionately, and strategically. “Not ready” is a symptom, not a strategy. When you say you’re not ready, what you often mean is:
- “I don’t trust someone else will do it right.”
- “I’ve hired the wrong person before.”
- “I don’t have time to train anyone.”
- “I need to get organized first.”
- “What if I invest and it doesn’t work?”
I get it. I’ve heard it hundreds of times. But here’s the thing: those things don’t get better by waiting. They get heavier. You stay reactive. You keep juggling, and you remain the single point of bottleneck, stuck in overwhelmed operator mode, in a business that’s too important to be run that way.
So what if we address this symptom strategically, knowing that the only way to address the underlying root cause is to get vulnerable, get uncomfortable, and ensure you align with the right support that will change everything. You’re not supposed to “be ready;” the right support gets you ready to uplevel, to step back from the day-to-day and show up and lead from a place of alignment, time optimization and empowerment. After all, would you remove all the furniture and boxes from your house in preparation for the movers to arrive? No, because that’s their job, and their area of expertise. So why would you approach your business any differently?
Here’s what most leaders miss: you don’t get support because you’re organized; you get support so you can become organized, optimally, and stay that way.
When you bring in the right executive assistant (EA), not a junior VA or task-taker, but a seasoned strategic partner, you unlock space, structure, and capacity. You’re not just offloading tasks; you’re installing leverage. The right EA:
- Streamlines systems
- Shields and manages your time like it’s their job (because it is)
- Thinks and acts proactively
- Keeps momentum going without you in every decision
- Protects your calendar, your focus, and your energy – they are your master gatekeeper
And because they’ve supported founders and C-suite leaders throughout their career, honing their skills, expertise, and acumen, they don’t need managing; they remove the need to manage. In fact, they manage up and stay 10 steps ahead of you, anticipating your needs before they happen.
Like any investment, you want to consider the return – your ROI. Removing yourself as your own assistant and investing in someone whose career and field of expertise is in this area is not an expense; it’s an actual investment. Also, they can do most of everything better and far more efficiently than you. That means the hours in which you’re investing, you receive back, multiplied exponentially.
Let’s break it down: if you’re spending 16+ hours per week on administrative, scheduling, inbox triage, or project follow-up (the Harvard Business Review states leaders without EAs spend lose about 16 hour per week on operations and administrative tasks)…that’s over 69 hours per month of of lost strategic capacity, and lost billable hours and revenue generating activities. Keep in mind, it’s not a direct conversion of your time; when you have a seasoned, career EA, investing to bring them on for even 5-10 hours per week has exponential impact on the return of your own time. You’re investing in the value and expertise they bring to an hour, and with far greater effeciency (because we’re not comparing apples to apples – more like a bicycle to a motorcycle).
What could you earn, build, or protect with that time back? How many opportunities have already slipped because you didn’t have the bandwidth? This isn’t about “getting help;” it’s about investing in infrastructure that pays for itself, and then some, because it’s a force multiplier.
And not just in money, but in clarity, growth, and your ability to actually enjoy your life and leadership again.
It’s become easy to convince yourself that you’re not ready yet, also, because we get comfortable in the discomfort that we know. Being overwhelmed and surviving is something you’ve mastered, and surviving in burnout is something you know how to do…but it’s also not sustainable, and you’re bottlenecking yourself, your leadership, your life, and your business.
Sometimes, what we know isn’t what we do, because the grind feels familiar.
You’ve figured it out before. You’ve carried it all. You’re capable. But capability doesn’t mean sustainability. High-functioning burnout is still burnout. You don’t need to “be more organized” to get help. You need help to stop carrying it all, once and for all.
So, let us consider this: what would it feel like to finally let go a little and focus all your time on the things that only you can do? This is possible in a fractional, part-time capacity. Imagine…
- Waking up without anxiety about what’s slipped through the cracks
- A calendar that reflects your priorities, not everyone else’s
- A trusted partner who runs point on the backend, so you don’t have to
- Taking a real vacation, leaving your laptop at home, and returning to everything running smoothly
This isn’t just possible, it’s what we do every day at HBH & Co. So believe me when I say you don’t need to “get ready.” Instead, the actual need is to stop overfunctioning and start leading with support designed to match you, your leadership, and your business goals. You’ve built something incredible; now bring on the right support system to optimize, elevate, and scale it. You weren’t meant to start your business to be your own assistant; you were meant to amplify your impact and to lead, strategically, intentionally, and sustainably.
Let’s explore what the right support could unlock for you.
