When startups hit early traction, many founders unknowingly become the biggest blockers to their own growth. In a recent conversation between Victor Cheng and fractional COO Katie Barnes, they unpacked the top five time traps sabotaging scaling founders—and how to fix them.
1. The Founder Bottleneck Loop
2. The Handoff Black Hole
Sales closes a deal, but CS doesn’t get the memo. Or onboarding stalls while waiting for next steps. When handoffs aren’t clear, customers feel it—and so does your revenue.
Fix: Use Slack or Teams to create clear “handoff checklists.” Even emojis can mark completed steps. Founders still get visibility, but the process moves without their intervention.
3. Tool Overload
Juggling five tools for one task? That’s wasted time. Founders often chase shiny new software instead of streamlining what they already have.
Fix: One tool per job. Notion for checklists. HubSpot for sales. Slack for communication. Less is more when your tools actually work together.
4. SOP Graveyards
Outdated documentation helps no one. If your SOPs aren’t updated, accessible, and actually used, you’re setting your team up for confusion.
Fix: Talk to the people doing the work. Keep your processes simple, visible, and integrated into daily tools. And—set accountability loops to keep them fresh.
5. The Renewal Fog
When contract renewals rely on founder input, things stall. Missed outreach, delayed upsells, and even lost clients are the result.
Fix: Systematize renewals. Define ownership. Set automated reminders. Know your customer health well before renewal time.
Katie sums it up best: “It’s not about more process. It’s about simple, repeatable systems that free the founder to scale.”
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How to Scale and Grow a SaaS Business
