A woman takes a four-week vacation to Ghana. No laptop. The room erupts in applause. Scott sits there thinking: "Is this what we're celebrating now? Taking a vacation?"

But here's the reality: 67% of small business owners check in on work during vacation. 14% only take a vacation every two to three years. Their health is suffering. And the question is why.

The answer: They're the bottleneck. The business is too reliant on them. They're in the Control Trap.

The lie you tell yourself: "I'm not a control freak. I'm just maintaining quality."

The five symptoms: Your team asks questions they should know. You can't vacation without checking your phone. You're the only one with passwords and access. You delegate then redo. You think "if something happened to me, this would collapse."

The real question: Not "how do I delegate more?" but "why does everything come back to me?"

The answer: Your standards live in your head. Your team comes to you because you're the path of least resistance.

What the Ghana woman did differently: She trained her team on decisions, not just tasks. They knew her criteria. They didn't need her.

The three-part escape:

1. Define what winning looks like (outcomes, not steps)
2. Teach them to think, not just do (under what circumstances would you do X?)
3. Remove yourself as the path of least resistance

The trick: When they ask a question they should know, say "I don't know. What do you think we should do?"

The catch: It feels like losing control. They will mess up. That's fixable. Don't jump back in.

The key insight: All businesses scale because you get more people thinking.

Your action: Pick one thing that requires your approval. Define what winning looks like. Next time someone asks, say "What do you think?"

Got a business question? Ask Scott here: scotttodd.net/ask