WHAT GOT ME TO 40 LOCATIONS WASN’T GOING TO GET US TO 300.
One of the hardest lessons I learned as a founder had nothing to do with marketing, finance, or franchising.
It was learning when to let go.
For years, I believed no one could do things as well as I could.
So I stayed involved in almost everything—franchise sales, franchisee relationships, marketing, operations, and countless day-to-day decisions.
In the early years, that mindset helped build the company.
Eventually, it became the very thing holding us back.
Then I realized something that changed the trajectory of our business:
THE SKILLS THAT BUILD A BUSINESS ARE NOT ALWAYS THE SKILLS THAT SCALE ONE.
Every stage of growth requires a different version of its leader.
The founder who gets a company to 40 locations isn’t necessarily the leader who gets it to 100…or 300.
In 2018, I made one of the best decisions of my career.
I stopped trying to be the smartest person in every room and started building a leadership team filled with people who were smarter than me in their areas of expertise.
That decision changed everything.
✅ Our growth accelerated.
✅ Our systems improved.
✅ Our franchisees received better support.
✅ I became a better leader because I learned to trust others.
One piece of advice I share with every entrepreneur is this:
Your job isn’t to be indispensable.
Your job is to build a team that no longer depends on you for every decision.
That’s when a business stops revolving around its founder…
…and starts becoming a company that can truly scale.
That’s when real growth begins. 💙🦈
Scott Sharkey
-CEO & Co-Founder
P.S. My Board of Directors voted unanimously that letting go was the right decision. 😉🦈
