Vision or Execution: The Owner's Dilemma - Episode 189

 How many times have you had a brilliant idea for your business, something that could truly move the needle, only to get pulled back into the daily grind before you could act on it? It's frustrating, isn't it? You see the vision, but somehow you're also the one answering emails and fixing problems and making sure the bills all get paid. That's the trap that so many business owners fall into. You start as the visionary, the one who sees the big picture. 

But before long, you're buried in ops. And let me tell you, you can't scale a business when you're stuck in the weeds. This isn't just about working harder, it's about working smarter. 

If you're constantly shifting between planning for the future and handling today's emergencies, you're gonna be running in circles instead of moving forward. Here's the truth. Every business needs two key roles, the visionary and the operator. 

Most owners don't realize which one they truly are, and that's why a lot of owners get stuck. So today we're breaking down what it really means to be a visionary versus an operator. Who's responsible for what, where things go wrong, and how you can build a structure that keeps you in your lane while your business thrives.

Welcome to the Budding Entrepreneur Podcast. Good day and welcome to the Budding Entrepreneur Podcast. I'm your host, Randy Bridges. 

In each episode, we dive into practical business strategies that you can put to work in your business right away. We also focus on inspiring stories from leaders who are shaking and making things happen in their industry. It's all about giving you the tools and insights to take you and your business to the next level. 

So get comfortable and let's jump right in. 

All right, all right. We are on episode 189 of the podcast. 

Today is Friday, March 7th, 2025, and we're talking about the owner-operator conundrum. Now every successful business has two essential roles. The visionary, who's most likely the owner, who creates the ideas, sets goals, and drives long-term strategy. 

And the operator, also called an integrator, who ensures daily execution, manages systems, and keeps everything running for everybody. Now most business owners start out doing both, and that's a problem. You see, you can't be a true visionary while also being an operator. 

It's like trying to drive and build the road at the same time. So today we're going to cover what separates a visionary from an operator, why doing both jobs slows your business down, how to recognize when it's time to bring in an operator, how to delegate effectively so that you can step into your true role. But before we get into that, let's set the stage with our quote of the week.

This week's quote is from Malcolm Gladwell, and he says, The visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper and reimagines the world. And Gladwell's words hit the nail on the head. Visionaries aren't just thinking about what's in front of them. 

They're looking at what could be, the possibilities, the big picture, the potential. But ideas don't build businesses, execution does. And that's why we need a different answer, one that addresses the conundrum of long-term and short-term vision at the same time.

That conundrum is what we're looking to solve today. So let's go a little deeper into the two roles that every business needs. We've already discussed the two essential roles at the top, the visionary and the operator. 

But let's look a little bit deeper. With the visionary, this person is a big picture thinker. They're focused on innovation, growth, and long-term direction.

They're constantly asking, where is this business going? They come up with new growth opportunities. They create the brand, set the mission, and build the relationships. But they have one major drawback. 

They often struggle with execution, follow-through, and systems. They almost always need an assistant to get things done. Now let's look at the operator. 

This is the execution expert, focused on making things run smoothly. They turn vision into action, using and building systems and processes to keep everything running. You might also hear a lot about automation from this person.

And their goal is to keep the business running smoothly, without constant involvement from the owner. They want to provide stability, organization, and decision-making support. But their drawback is that they have trouble creating their own vision.

Now, trying to be both visionary and operator is like driving a car while building the road at the same time. It just doesn't work. You slow yourself down. 

You're constantly shifting between big-picture planning and daily operations, which kills your momentum. You're creating bottlenecks. Everything, every decision, every one has to go through you, meaning things take way longer than they should.

And very likely, you're going to burn out. Running a business like this isn't sustainable, and eventually you start resenting it. I used to think if I could just work a little harder, I could do both jobs.

But the truth is, it only led to my own exhaustion. So, let's talk about the trap in the conundrum. Because many visionaries try to offload their culture building to an operator who's more systems-focused. 

But the operator shouldn't be responsible for driving engagement, vision alignment, or emotional buy-in. That's the visionary's role. And when operators focus too much on people, they risk getting pulled into HR issues instead of optimizing the business systems that will move people forward. 

So, what we want to do is balance the culture of the business with the execution. We're going to keep the visionary's role of inspiring and communicating the mission and leading by example. The operator's role is going to ensure the company's structure and processes reinforce the cultural standards set by the visionary. 

And in the ideal setup, the visionary focuses on the people and the big picture. The operator focuses on the execution and efficiency. Now, how do you know when it's time to bring in an operator? Well, there are a few signs, but generally you, the owner, are overwhelmed with daily tasks and decisions.

Two, your growth is stalling because you're spread too thin. Three, you have a vision but no time to execute it. And four, you're exhausted but you're afraid to delegate.

The turning point occurs when you finally let go and bring in an operator. Your business is going to move faster, grow stronger, and run smoother at the same time. Let's talk about delegating without losing control, especially in this process.

First of all, you want to set up your operator to be the most effective person they can be. So, you want to document your processes, even if it's just a matter of taking out a camera and running a video of you doing your things. We've talked about this before.

You obviously can't delegate if things only exist in your head. But we want to create some standard operating procedures, SOPs, so tasks can be handed off easily. And as we discussed in the Eisenhower box, many times we can actually delegate to our assistants, not necessarily having to delegate to the operator.

Another part of delegating is we want to start small. We want to offload the non-strategic work like administration, scheduling, customer follow-ups, billing, things like this. See how your business runs without you micromanaging everything.

That's a real key because you're gonna need to see whether it works or whether it doesn't. Finding the right operator. Now, this is a person who should complement your strengths.

If you're the visionary, they bring the structure. Look for someone who's detail-oriented, proactive, and decision-driven. And step four, and this is the hardest part of the delegation process, trust the process.

The first time I truly let my operator run things, I was nervous. I was leaving for a weekend to go to a meeting, and I had to let somebody else take over the billing aspect of things. A little bit of training went a long way.

And when I came back, everything had run smoothly. All the billing was done correctly. It wasn't really, you know, a problem.

And I wasn't stuck in the weeds. I knew I'd made the right decision. So in the power of embracing your role, a business without a visionary gets stuck.

A business without an operator stays chaotic. When both roles work together, that's when true growth and safe scaling is possible. The most successful businesses aren't run by solo visionaries.

They have a strong operator who brings their ideas to life. So how do you make that shift? Well, obviously identify your strengths. Are you the big picture thinker, the visionary? Or are you the one who loves execution, operator? We're going to talk about this in a minute.

You want to build the right leadership team. Find someone who complements your skill set and let go of control. Focus on what you do best and let the other person in their role handle the rest.

If you get it right, your business is going to run smoother. Your team's actually going to be happier and far more effective. And you'll be able to finally focus on growth.

Now there is one question that I faced. Do owners have to be visionaries? And I can tell you firsthand, no, they don't. The idea that all business owners must be visionaries is a myth.

Some owners are operators at heart. That's me. We love the process, the structure, and the mechanics of running a business.

That's not a bad thing. So what's the best approach if you are the doer and not necessarily a seer? Well, if you're an owner who thrives in operations, you only have two choices. One, you need to hire a visionary to drive the growth and direction.

Many successful businesses are operator-led, but have a strong visionary in another key role. Maybe that's a CEO, maybe a co-founder, or a business strategist. For example, you handle the execution and internal systems while a hired visionary focuses on expansion, branding, and partnerships.

It works well in tech companies, law firms, and a lot of very niche consulting businesses where precision and efficiency are critical. Deal with it every day. And it allows the business to scale without forcing you into a role that doesn't fit.

Believe me, as you go through over time, you're going to get better at being a visionary when you see vision being instituted by somebody else and you're the one that has to build the systems to support that. You're going to see a lot of that. It's going to help you out long term.

Or you can do a lot of what I did, which is to step into a hybrid role and use external guidance. Not every business has the luxury of hiring a visionary right away. I didn't.

If you're the owner and an operator at heart, you might need to develop just enough of a visionary mindset to keep the company growing. For example, work with a coach, a mentor, or a mastermind group to help shape your long-term direction. Use quarterly planning and goal setting frameworks so you can step into strategic thinking mode without living there full time.

And lean on strategic partners who help guide the big picture growth while you keep the systems running. If you're a micro business, you only have two people, maybe three, or even a solopreneur, you may not actually be able to do this that way. You may have to take some kind of a hybrid where you do one day off, one day of strategic, and four or five days of tactical.

That actually can work. If there's just you, you have to find a way to be able to dedicate your thinking in an area. You can use different types of time blocks, but really setting aside the whole day for strategic, or setting aside the whole day for tactical, many times will help you as you're growing your business to take a better view of what's going on.

So the takeaway of this idea is that being an owner is not equal to being a visionary. You don't have to be the big picture forward-thinking person if that's not your strength. Instead, align yourself with the right people and processes to bring that side of the business to life without forcing you into a role that drains you.

And when it comes to culture, culture isn't built through systems, it's supported by them. In a typical scenario, the visionary sets the tone, and the operator ensures the systems keep the teams aligned. If you are operationally minded, you still have a role to play in the culture of the business.

You are, after all, the owner. You are responsible for the success of your people. Now, wrapping this all up, in short, the visionary sets the tone, and the operator ensures the systems keep the teams aligned.

When both roles stay in their lane, a company is going to thrive. So looking at a recap here, we broke down the owner-operator conundrum. We covered why doing both holds a business back.

We talked about how to recognize when it's time to bring in an operator. And we explored how to start delegating without losing control, focusing also on the quandary of the operational leader. Now next week, we're going to be doing a topic called beating burnout and reigniting your business passion.

We all know that running a business is exciting, and burnout is a real threat. We talked about that quite a bit today. But what if burnout isn't the problem, it's simply the signal.

In our next episode, we'll break down how to recognize burnout, understand what's really causing it, and then rebuild your energy and passion for your business. If you feel like your business is running you, instead of the other way around, don't miss next week's session. 

That's it for this episode. I hope you picked up some valuable insights, and maybe even sparked a few new ideas. If you want to keep the conversation going, or maybe even explore partnerships, don't hesitate to reach out. Hey, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share this with someone who needs to hear it.

The steps you take today could be the start of something big tomorrow. For The Budding Entrepreneur, I wish you the best in your health, your wealth, your business, your family, everything about you. Take care, and we'll see you back here next week.