The One Task That’s Keeping You Stuck (and What To Do About It)

You’ve simplified. You’ve streamlined. Maybe you’ve even downsized.

Your business is running leaner and cleaner than ever before.

So why do you still feel like you’re dragging a weight behind you?

That’s where Ellie Lum found herself. She’s the founder of Klum House, a multi-six-figure business that sells high-quality bag-making kits, patterns, and online classes. She’d already made smart, intentional changes to move her business into a more profitable, sustainable place.

But one task was still lingering—and quietly pulling her back into a role she no longer wanted to play.

Let’s talk about that kind of task.

The one that isn’t urgent, but eats up your focus.
The one you tell yourself is “just a few hours,” but somehow it keeps your whole week off balance.
The one you know you should delegate—but haven’t.

Because solving that problem might be the key to unlocking what’s next in your business.

It’s Not on Fire—But It’s in the Way

Ellie wasn’t drowning. She had a strong foundation, a profitable model, and space in her schedule. But when we sat down to talk about what she wanted to do next—like building a new course or launching a subscription product—one thing came up fast.

She was still spending part of every week cutting leather.

About 4–6 hours. Not huge. But enough to derail her momentum.

“This is the one thing I wish I didn’t do.”

And she wasn’t doing it because she loved it.

She was doing it because outsourcing felt expensive. Because she didn’t want to manage more people in-house. Because she used to have a great local leather cutter, but he’d retired. Because shipping to a factory was a hassle. Because she hadn’t found the right person yet.

All reasonable. All valid.

But also? All reasons she was still the one cutting leather on a Tuesday afternoon instead of planning her next launch.

The Real Cost of Low-Value Work

These tasks are sneaky because they feel small.

A few hours here. A quick job there.
But here’s what they really cost you:

• Strategic brainpower. You can’t think big-picture when you’re mid-production.
  
• Creative momentum. Stopping to “just knock something out” is the fastest way to lose your flow.
  
• Leadership focus. You can’t lead your business into the next phase if you’re stuck running the old one.
  
  

“If I scale, it’s more time spent doing that.”

And here’s the kicker: Even when you do have time to work on something new, your brain is still carrying the weight of all the little jobs you’re trying to juggle.

It’s like background noise. You don’t always notice it. But it makes everything harder to hear.

So Why Haven’t You Delegated Yet?

If you’re nodding along, you might be thinking:
“Yep. I’ve got one of those tasks too.”
So the obvious question is—why haven’t you handed it off?

There are always reasons. But let’s name a few that came up in Ellie’s story:

• “It’s not that much time.” But it adds up.
  
• “It’s cheaper to do it myself.” But your time is expensive.
  
• “I don’t want to hire anyone else.” Totally valid—but you still need a solution.
  
• “I couldn’t find the right person.” Have you looked recently?
  
  

These are the kinds of problems that get deferred—not solved. And that’s okay for a while. But eventually, they become a ceiling. And if you want to grow past that ceiling, something has to give.

“I became so not in touch with how I would spend my time anyways when I’m not working.”

That’s the trap for experienced business owners. You’ve gotten so good at solving problems, you don’t notice when the problem is you still solving everything.

A Smarter Way to Think About Delegation

Solving this doesn’t mean scaling up your team or taking on a ton of complexity. In fact, Ellie’s goal was the opposite—no new in-house hires.

Here’s how we broke it down:

1. Start with the ideal solution—not just the default.

Ellie didn’t want to go back to working with a factory. She didn’t want to train someone in-house. Her dream scenario? A local contractor with their own setup who could work by the piece.

When you define your perfect solution, you’re way more likely to find it—or at least get close.

2. Tap into your community.

She hadn’t looked in a while. But what about that retired contractor’s daughter, who now runs the business? What about a skilled fan from her email list? What about someone in her own bag-making customer base who’d love to earn $75/hour doing something they enjoy?

You’d be surprised who’s out there if you just ask.

3. Pay by the piece, not the hour.

This is critical if margin is tight. Ellie already had piecework pricing ready to go. This way, you protect profitability and eliminate the risk of slow work eating your margins.

4. Be honest about the trade-offs.

Yes, keeping it in-house is more efficient. Yes, you’ll have less control over waste if you outsource. But what do you gain in return? More space. More strategic time. More energy for high-leverage work.

And sometimes, just enough friction is all it takes to stop you from pursuing your next big idea.

What You Could Be Doing Instead

Let’s say you got that task off your plate. What’s waiting on the other side?

For Ellie, the plan was clear:

✅ Launch a digital course
✅ Possibly build a subscription box
✅ Work on marketing
✅ Or even... take a day off

You don’t need to fill the time with more work.

Sometimes you just need white space to think. To read. To plan. To remember why you started this business in the first place.

What If You Just… Stopped Doing It?

Here’s a wild idea:

What if you didn’t wait until everything was perfectly aligned to delegate?

What if you said, “This is the lowest-value job I still do—and I’m not doing it anymore.”

What if your next hire wasn’t a forever hire—but a 3-month experiment?

What if this one decision gave you the margin to build a course that sold 10x the value of that time?

Because here's the truth:
The longer you keep that low-leverage work, the longer you delay what's next.

How to Figure Out Your “Leather Cutting”

If you want to apply this to your own business, try this:

Ask yourself two questions:

1. What’s the one thing I keep doing that someone else could do?
   
2. What would I do with that time instead?
   
   

Don’t overthink it. Just answer honestly.

That’s your next step.

And once you take it, you’ll be surprised how much lighter your business starts to feel.\

RELATED LINKS:

Check out Ellie’s site here: www.klumhouse.com

Get on the Reliable Revenue waitlist: https://www.thesocialsalesgirls.com/reliable-revenue

Hiring Help—Get Set Up for Success https://www.thesocialsalesgirls.com/blog/hiring-help-get-set-up-for-success-episode-280

Do this now and be more profitable https://www.thesocialsalesgirls.com/blog/do-this-now-and-be-more-profitable-episode-204