The 4 things I refuse to do in my businesses

Owning 7 businesses has taught me a valuable lesson about achieving success:

What you don’t work on is just as important as the work you do.

There are four specific types of work I deliberately don’t do in any of my businesses that play a huge part in being able to scale.

First…

No answering customer calls

The customers in my businesses don’t know who I am, or that I’m the owner.

As far as they’re concerned, the general manager runs the place.

The moment customers start calling you directly, you become the bottleneck for every issue and complaint.

I don’t handle most employee issues

When an employee calls out sick and someone needs to cover their shift…

Or when someone isn’t performing well and needs coaching or discipline…

The GM handles it.

I might help depending on the business, but it stays within their responsibilities.

You can’t build a scalable business if you’re handling scheduling conflicts and performance reviews.

I don't deal with vendors on day-to-day operations

Most vendor interactions go through my teams:

• Ordering supplies

• Managing inventory

• Negotiating routine contracts

Now, I do maintain some strategic vendor relationships that benefit multiple businesses.

But the daily back-and-forth about products, deliveries, and operational needs doesn’t come through me.

If vendors can reach the owner directly for every small issue, they’ll bypass your systems and create dependencies on you personally.

I don't do operational work

This includes quality control checks, inventory management, equipment maintenance, and scheduling.

I structure deals specifically so I won’t be the person handling these day-to-day tasks.

Why avoiding these tasks is important

Each type of work I avoid serves a purpose.

When you delegate these tasks properly, your business becomes stronger, not weaker…

Allowing you to transform your business from something that needs you every day into an asset that generates value on its own.

Your most important role

Strategic work will always create more value than operational work, like answering phones and managing schedules.

You can’t do both and scale effectively.

Once you have systems and people handling operations, you’re free to work on things that actually multiply your results.

Interested in buying or investing in a small business yourself?

I occasionally share vetted small business opportunities with this email list. If you want to get those broadcasts, just fill out the short survey below:

👉 I want to buy or passively invest into a small business (2-minute survey)

Or, if you’re thinking about selling your business and you’re actively looking for buyers, let me know below:

👉 I want to sell a small business

Onward,

— Ben Kelly