Duncan Knight 

As your business grows, the habits that helped you get it started can begin to get in the way. Being involved in every decision keeps you close to the detail, but can leave your team waiting for permission. Moving quickly helps you make progress, but can mean changing direction before people understand the last decision. Taking responsibility for everything can become exhausting. Conscious leadership starts with noticing those patterns. It means paying attention to how you th

If you are a non-technical founder with an idea for a product, hiring a developer can feel like the obvious first step. Sometimes it is the right move. But before committing to a permanent hire, get clear about what you need to learn, what needs building and who will make the technical decisions. A prototype, a short development project and a product serving paying customers create different demands. They may need different kinds of support. Start with the work and the respon

In the past, people have pointed out that I say yes to helping too readily. I enjoy getting things done. If someone needs support and I can see a way forward, stepping in feels useful. But that instinct has a cost when helping becomes taking over. My own priorities wait, while the other person loses an opportunity to develop their judgement and confidence. For founders, this can become a familiar pattern. People bring you problems, you provide the answers and more decisions c

When you start a business, you can find yourself doing almost everything. Researching, selling, delivering, organising and dealing with whatever needs attention next. In my first business, much of that responsibility initially sat with me. In my second, it was shared. Being involved in everything gives you a close understanding of the business. But as it grows, the same pattern can leave important work waiting and other people depending on you for decisions they could make th