Want to Know If You Have Real Systems? Disappear for a Week.

I was burnt out. Completely cooked. I'd been grinding at Bartlett Roofing, working something like 80-hour weeks trying to build processes, delegate everything, get the right people doing the right things. And I hit a wall. I didn't plan some brilliant systems audit. I just needed a break so badly that I finally said screw it, I'm leaving for a week.

So I told my team, hey guys, you've got it. And I disappeared. Four or five days. Maybe a full week. No hovering. No checking in every hour. Just gone.

That was my first real systems check. Not a spreadsheet. Not some consultant's framework. Me walking out the door and seeing what fell apart. And when I came back? I learned some things. Some stuff broke. Some stuff held. And that gap between what worked and what didn't told me exactly where my real systems were, and where I was just holding things together with duct tape and good people.

If you think you've got systems, try that. You'll find out fast.

You Don't Have a System If It Lives in Someone's Head

Here's the truth about systems that most contractors don't want to hear. If your business depends on any single person, including you, you don't have a system. You've got duct tape. You've got a good crew of people, maybe. But that's not a system.

A real system means the knowledge doesn't live in anyone's head. Not yours. Not your best salesperson's. Not your production manager's. If that person left tomorrow, or got hurt, or just decided they were done, could someone else step in and keep things moving? If the answer is no, that's your problem right there.

At Bartlett Roofing today, I could disappear for months. The company would keep going. It could even grow without me. And that's not because I'm not important. It's because we've built real systems and real bench depth. We know what every role requires. We've got people who can step up if we lose someone. Maybe not as polished as the person in the top seat, but they can fill it. That didn't happen by accident. It happened because I left and found out what broke.

Is It a Systems Problem or a Control Problem?

If you've been at your business for about a year and you've got people in the right seats but you still feel like you can't leave, you need to ask yourself an honest question. Is this a systems problem or a control problem? Because it might be you.

Some owners can't let go. They need to feel needed. They want the pride of ownership and the sense that nothing works without them. And look, I'm not throwing shade on that. If all you want is a small business where you manage your team yourself and you make enough money to be happy, more power to you. There's absolutely a place in the world for that.

But if you want to scale? If you want to build something bigger than you? You have to let go of control. You have to learn to trust your team. Because if you don't, all you've done is create a job for yourself. You're not building a company. You're just employed by one that happens to have your name on it.

For me, it's about creating something bigger than myself. It's about providing opportunity beyond what I could personally deliver. Reaching more customers. Giving people a great place to work. That's what drives me. And you can't get there if you're white-knuckling every decision.

Do the Job First, Then Document Every Single Step

You can't build a system for a job you've never done. That's my personal belief. Early on, you should be making collection calls on late-paying customers. You should be doing sales. I've said this a hundred times. If you haven't started your company by doing sales yourself, you're probably never going to be successful.

You've got to be the salesperson first. Then you've got to teach people how to sell. Then you've got to manage a team of salespeople as a sales manager. Then you've got to teach someone to be a great sales manager. And then you've got to build a system around how sales management should work. Same thing with production. You've got to know how to do the job so you know what to expect out of the team you've built.

But knowing it isn't enough. You have to document it. Not just the KPIs, the key performance indicators, the expectations of the job. I'm talking about documenting the actual process. Every single step. Specifically described. And over time it evolves, and it should evolve rapidly if you're ready to grow.

At Bartlett Roofing, it started with me taking a picture of a contract and emailing it. Then it was duplicate contracts. Then forms on an iPad with automatic delivery. It started with manila folders and jobs written on a whiteboard to track what we needed to fulfill. That's where everyone starts. The point is you document it, then you improve it, then you document it again. That's how real systems get built.

Run the Test Every Year

That week I took off wasn't a one-time thing. It should be something you do every single year. Disappear for a week. Let your team run it. See what holds and see what breaks.

When you come back, you'll know exactly where your systems are weak. You'll know which roles are too dependent on one person. You'll know where the documentation is thin or just flat-out missing. And then you fix it. You tighten it up. You build the bench depth so you're not one resignation away from a full-blown crisis.

The first time I did it, it was almost unintentional. I was so burnt out that I had no choice. But the result was the most valuable thing I could've done for Bartlett Roofing. It showed me where the real gaps were. Not the ones I imagined sitting at my desk. The ones that actually showed up when I wasn't there to patch them.

So stop guessing about whether your systems work. Go find out. Take the week. What breaks is what you need to fix. What holds is what you build on.