Working On the Business vs. Working In the Business

This post was updated on February 13, 2026, with more updated information and data.

For lasting business growth, the most important move you can make is to step back from the daily grind and focus your energy on leading your business forward. Shifting your attention from running operations to setting strategy allows you to clarify your mission, strengthen your core systems, and empower your team through thoughtful delegation. This creates room to set ambitious goals and tackle the kind of high-impact work that drives innovation and results. 

In this article, we’ll walk through how you can make this crucial shift, think entrepreneurially, and lay a strong foundation for smart, sustainable growth.

How can business owners shift their focus to strategic leadership?

• Clarify your mission and vision
  Understand your ultimate business goals and the steps needed to achieve them. Your mission guides daily activities to align with your long-term company vision.
   
• Build training programs and processes
  Create robust training systems to delegate responsibilities effectively, ensuring your leadership team can manage routine decision-making.
   
• Delegate and outsource responsibilities
  Trust your leadership team and consider outsourcing tasks such as customer service and SEO to focus on strategic initiatives.
   
• Think like an investor
  Evaluate tasks based on priority and impact. Determine if they align with your strategic goals or if they can be delegated.
   
• Focus on business outcomes
  Plan quarterly with clear, outcome-driven goals and leverage peer networks for accountability and support.

Use this guide to assess your current focus and find clear, practical steps to shift from daily management to strategic leadership. It's about building a business that can thrive and grow, with you at the helm, not in the engine room.

Part One: Assess Your Current Focus

Review these points to get a clear picture of where your time and energy are going.

• Review Your Calendar: Look at the last two weeks. How many hours were spent on strategic planning versus daily operational tasks?
• Analyze Your To-Do List: Categorize your tasks from the past week. Are they mostly reactive (putting out fires) or proactive (building for the future)?
• Track Your Decisions: Note how many decisions you made in a day. How many could have been handled by a team member with the right guidance?
• Identify Your Bottlenecks: Pinpoint where work piles up waiting for your approval. Is your involvement necessary for every step?
• Evaluate Your "Untouchable" Tasks: List the tasks you feel only you can do. Are they truly strategic, or could someone be trained to handle them?

Part Two: Shift Your Focus to Strategic Leadership

Once you know where you stand, use these steps to start working on your business.

• Clarify Your Mission and Vision:
  • Write down your company's core purpose in one or two sentences.
  • Define what success looks like one year and five years from now.
  • Share this vision with your entire team so everyone is aligned.
• Delegate and Empower Your Team:
  • Identify three to five repetitive or low-impact tasks you can delegate this month.
  • Create simple, written instructions (SOPs) for one of those tasks.
  • Choose the right person for the task and provide clear training.
  • Schedule a brief follow-up to review their work, not to redo it.
• Set and Track Strategic Goals:
  • Block at least two hours of "strategy time" on your calendar each week.
  • Define one to three key business outcomes for the upcoming quarter (e.g., increase customer retention by 10%).
  • Break each outcome into smaller, actionable steps with clear deadlines.
  • Set up a simple dashboard or report to monitor progress toward these goals.
• Build Your Support Systems:
  • Explore one technology tool that could automate a time-consuming administrative task.
  • Schedule regular check-in meetings with key team members to review progress and remove 

Don’t think you have to pursue these outcomes on your own; most successful SMB owners have a peer network of four to seven people in similar leadership positions. Spend time collaborating and sharing ideas that help each of you to achieve meaningful business outcomes. Remember, your position affords you access to great minds, so use this to your advantage.

Why do so many businesses fail? 

Businesses often fail due to a lack of strategic focus and getting bogged down in daily operations. Implementing the right people, programs, and processes can free up time to concentrate on growth, ultimately leading to long-term success.