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Know What You Don’t Know
And Hire to Fill Those Gaps
Lilit Petrosyan
May 28, 2025
You don’t need to do it all. You just need to know what you don’t do best.
Running a small business is like juggling fire on a unicycle: you’re balancing marketing, sales, operations, finances, HR, maybe even mopping the floors. The instinct is to wear all the hats. But the reality? That’s not growth, that’s burnout.
Truth bomb: The most successful business owners aren’t the ones who know everything. They’re the ones who know what they don’t know and build smart teams to fill in the gaps.
Here’s How to Tell if You’re Stuck in the “I’ll just do it myself” Trap
You’re spending hours trying to DIY your website... instead of selling your product.
Your inbox is your project manager.
You're losing sleep over bookkeeping or avoiding it entirely.
Your team is constantly asking for clarity... because you're stretched too thin to lead.
Every decision feels like a guess instead of a strategy.
Here's How to Start Plugging the Gaps Strategically
1. Do a “Skill Audit”
List out all the critical functions in your business - marketing, finance, ops, tech, customer service. Rate your proficiency and time spent. This alone will reveal your biggest energy leaks.
2. Decide: Hire, Contract, or Automate?
You might not need a full-time person. Tools like Upwork, Toptal, or Fiverr help you fill talent gaps flexibly. And automation platforms like Zapier or ClickUp can take whole tasks off your plate.
3. Start Small, But Start Now
Hire for outcomes, not hours. Even bringing on a freelancer for 5–10 hours a week can create momentum.
4. Use AI to Fill Specific Skill Gaps
Don’t have a copywriter? Try ChatGPT to draft marketing copy or emails. Struggle with bookkeeping? Tools like Bench or Xero use automation to do the heavy lifting..
5. Rethink Your Role
Ask yourself: “What can only I do in this business?” then delegate or hire out the rest.
Learn by Example
Richard Branson is the first to admit: he's not a numbers guy. In fact, he’s dyslexic and has said that traditional business plans used to overwhelm him. But instead of letting that hold him back, he built the Virgin empire by doubling down on what he does best: vision, branding, and bold thinking, and surrounding himself with experts who could execute.
From finance to operations, he hired people smarter than him in those areas. His motto is “If you really want to grow as an entrepreneur, you’ve got to learn to delegate.”
It’s not about doing everything. It’s about doing what only you can do and letting great people handle the rest.
What would be possible for you if you spent 80% of your time in your zone of genius?
Let’s stop wearing all the hats and start building the right bench.
What's the first gap you’d fill if you had the budget (or the guts)? Hit reply and let me know. I read every response.
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