For five years I had a CEO running my business.

And for five years I still worked 50-plus hours a week.

I told myself it was because I loved the business. Partly true. But mostly I'd never made it hard for the work to find me.

Here's the number that changed how I see it.

Back then I was working roughly 2,500 hours a year. Today I take about the same out of the business and work a couple of hours a week. Call it 100 hours a year.

Same money. 25 times the value per hour.

The business didn't get smaller. What changed was what I spent my hours on.

So let's work out yours.

1. Work out your true hourly rate

Take the profit of the business, add whatever you pay yourself, and divide it by the hours you actually work in a year.

(Profit + your income) ÷ annual hours = your true hourly rate

Be honest about the hours. The 9pm emails count. The Saturday calls count. The "quick check-in" on holiday counts.

Here's how it usually plays out when I run this with founders:

  • $800,000 in profit and pay combined

  • 60 hours a week, 50 weeks a year = 3,000 hours

  • True hourly rate: $267

Sounds healthy, until you realise you're probably paying your lawyer more per hour than you're paying yourself. And a big chunk of those 3,000 hours is going on work you could hand to someone on $60 an hour.

Here's the thing. This number isn't about guilt. It's about asking a better question: is the work I'm doing worth what my time is worth?

Most weeks, for most founders, the honest answer is no.

2. Find where the value actually is

The money in your business doesn't come from your hours. It comes from a handful of decisions a year.

The key hire. The pricing call. Backing the right leader. Walking away from the wrong deal.

Get three or four of those right and you've had a great year. That's where your hourly rate really comes from, and it's why mine went up 25 times without the business needing more of me.

Ask yourself two questions:

  • What did I do last week that someone on my team could have done?

  • What are the few decisions only I can make, and have I protected time for them?

Be strict with "only I". Familiarity isn't the same as necessity.

3. Make the boundary structural, not personal

Willpower didn't fix this for me. Structure did.

My CEO set a simple rule: the business runs through him. My advisory board held me to it. When I slipped, and I did, someone called it out.

Sit down with your CEO, GM or second in charge and write down:

  • The decisions they own without your sign-off

  • What genuinely needs to come to you

  • What happens when someone goes around them and comes straight to you

Then follow it yourself. Every time you answer a routine question directly, you teach the team the rule is optional.

No board? Use an advisory board, a peer group or a coach. Someone has to be able to say, "You're doing it again."

4. Start with one, one, one

Don't try to fix the whole week. This fortnight:

  • One task handed over properly, with the authority to make the call

  • One decision only you can make, with time blocked to think it through

  • One person who'll pull you up when you take things back

In two weeks, rerun your hourly rate. You're not looking for a miracle. You're looking for the direction.

A clear decision is an output. Being copied into everything isn't.

The business doesn't need more of you. It needs the right bits of you.

So, what's your number? Hit reply and tell me. I read every one.

Best wishes,

Nick

P.S. Know a founder who's still running on hours? Send them your personal link. Every founder who joins through it is credited to you, and I've put together a few thank yous for readers who share. The more founders you bring in, the better they get. I'll keep the details a surprise.

Here's the link to copy: {{rp_refer_url}}

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