Why Letting Things Break So You Can Scale Bigger

Learn why letting things break is the secret to scaling your business and building systems that don’t rely on you to survive.

Let me ask you something uncomfortable: Are you holding your business together with duct tape, caffeine, and personal martyrdom?

Yeah, I thought so.

If you’re the guy who still approves every invoice, checks every Slack ping, responds to every client DM, and has your fingerprints on every single part of your operation, then this one’s for you.

The reason your business isn’t scaling might not be a lack of skill, capital, or even talent.

It might be that you refuse to let things break.

Here’s the brutal truth

You can’t scale and control everything at the same time.

In the early days, your obsession with control was what kept the ship afloat. You built it. You hustled. You wore every hat.

But now? That same control is a chokehold. And the tighter you grip, the more you become the bottleneck.

You want to grow.
You want freedom.
You want leverage.

But you’re still the human duct tape holding everything together.

And guess what? Duct tape doesn’t scale.

Here’s what letting go actually looks like

Letting go means trusting your team to make mistakes, without jumping in to rescue them the second it happens.

Letting go means removing yourself from approval workflows, even if things go sideways for a while.

Letting go means not answering your phone at dinner because your ops manager can handle it—even if they fumble once or twice.

Letting go means building the system first, then stepping back before it's perfect.

Because perfection is the addiction of founders who can’t let go.

Letting things break is a skill

It’s not laziness. It’s not carelessness. It’s a discipline.

And just like training a muscle, it’s uncomfortable. Here's what it looks like in practice:

1. Break Your Involvement

You don’t need to be in every meeting. You don’t need to check every email. You don’t need to sign off on every task.

Try this: for one full week, remove yourself from a process you usually monitor. Watch what happens. Is it a little messy? Probably. Is it survivable? Almost definitely.

The lesson? The team needs to grow through the mess, not be protected from it.

2. Break the Habit of Fixing

You know that twitch you get when someone messes up, and you know you could fix it in five minutes?

Resist it.

Instead of swooping in, ask:

• “What did you learn from that?

• “What will you do differently next time?”

Mistakes are tuition. Let your team pay it. Then let them own the solution.

3. Break the Systems That Depend on You

If the success of any part of your business depends on you being present, that system is broken.

• If you’re the only one who can close deals → document your sales process.

• If you’re the only one who understands the backend → shoot a Loom and train someone.

• If you’re the “final check” on all marketing copy → guess what? You’re the bottleneck.

Document, delegate, and automate until you can disappear for a week and not have everything burn down.

4. Break Your Identity

Most founders don’t just love control. They need it. Their self-worth is tied up in being the hero who saves the day.

But here’s the kicker:

Real leaders don’t build businesses that depend on them.
They build businesses that can thrive without them.

So if your identity is still “the fixer,” “the go-to,” or “the bottleneck with a cape,” it’s time to upgrade the software.

Your job now is to build leaders. Not just followers. Not just helpers. Leaders.

If you want to scale, you have to let go

Yes, things will break.
Yes, mistakes will happen.
Yes, there will be a dip before the lift.

But what’s on the other side of that discomfort?

• A business that runs without you.

• A team that solves problems without waiting for your green light.

• A life where you're not chained to Slack, email, and client fires every waking hour.

Sounds worth it to me.

So here’s your challenge this week:

Let something break.
Watch what happens.
Then get back to building—bigger.

Want help building systems that scale without burning you out?
That's what I do.

Let’s get to work.