How do I stop being the bottleneck in my own shop?

By Ask a Shop OwnerUpdated Operations

Short answer

Find the three decisions only you can make. Train someone on two of them in the next 90 days.

Find the chokepoints

Ask the team: what do you wait on me for? Their answers are your bottlenecks. Usually it's quoting, scheduling exceptions, or vendor problems.

Hand off in steps

Decision rights with limits: 'You can quote anything under $X without asking me. Above that, text me a number and I'll respond in an hour.' The limit shrinks the question and grows their confidence.

Ask your version of this question

This is one business owner-tested take. Your shop size, trade, and team change the answer. Ask the exact version inside Ask a Shop Owner and get a response grounded in how owners like you actually handled it.