You’ve started a business and thrown all your creativity and passion into building it into a successful start-up but then comes the inevitable running of the machine.

Retaining the momentum of the company is a key part of that process but there comes a time in the journey of many a founder when the skills that built the company aren’t the skills needed to help it accelerate.

Here, Mark Sanders, Sciopolis founder and CEO, explores how to know when this moment has arrived and how to take action.

I recently stumbled across an article in The Standard entitled ‘Want to Grow Faster? It Might Be Time to Replace Yourself’ and found a lot of truth in it. Many successful businesses go through phases where the leadership changes and that can often be the best move for the company, the customers and even the founder.

The skills and energy needed to start a business are not always the same as those required to grow it.

Starting out is about creativity, momentum and solving problems. Scaling is about discipline, systems and structures. There is honesty in knowing what you enjoy and what you’re good at.

In my career, I have always gravitated to growth areas or new ventures, even within big organisations. I wanted to focus on the creativity of building something and learning. And if your passion is innovation and invention, you might not want to be involved in the detail, in the minutiae of how a business operates. This all becomes necessary as you grow but that doesn’t mean it drives your passion.

A good example is my time at TDX. The founder was hugely innovative but didn’t want to run a large, complex operation. I came in to handle the parts he didn’t want to do, eventually becoming CEO. Once the business became multi-continental, I realised that wasn’t the environment that energised me and it was this self-awareness that led me to move on. It’s crucial to build a team around you that complements your strengths while staying open to feedback from trusted advisors or your board.

As a founder, one of the hardest things is recognising when you might be the barrier to growth. It’s rare to wake up one day and think, ‘I’m the problem’.

You have to deliberately structure your thinking, surround yourself with good counsel and be willing to act on what you hear.

Liked Mark's blog? Read his next piece on the power of the right community to help founders thrive to discover more insights about Mark's approach to business.