How Video Husky’s founder Hired a GM and Removed Himself from the Day-to-Day (Case Study)
Justin Tan found himself in a situation many entreprenuers can relate to. After 4 years of running his agency, things began to fall apart. Justin was running almost everything, and he knew he needed to hire a General Manager and let go of day-to-day operations.
This is the story of how Justin was able to overcome his fears of letting go and successfully hire a #2. He’s now loving what he does, and the business is still thriving.
Background and Challenges
Here’s When He Knew Things Had to Change.
Video Husky was doing well; it had 10x in revenue, 47 remote employees, and over 700 customers. But Justin had one overlying issue: he now hated the job he made for himself. The responsibility of running a successful video editing agency bogged Justin down with operational and managerial tasks that took up most of his time and left little time for creativity or the freedom to think up what was next.
Justin became resentful and felt burnout for the first time.
"The managing and coaching that was necessary just didn't suit where I am in life where I'd rather be playing a game rather than coaching and managing on the sidelines.” -Justin Tan
Strategy and Execution
Crossroads
He had two options: Either sell the company or hire a General Manager to take on his role. The former seemed neither financially attractive nor did he want to entrust the future of Video Husky's staff to somebody he didn't have control or influence over.
“The biggest lesson was learning to let go of the “good” for potential “great”. Staying at Video Husky would have provided me with a good job, income, and environment, but it would have trapped me within a comfort zone and come at the cost of exploring other possibilities where I might work with customers and staff who I related to more while the work that I did daily might be more enjoyable. Moreover, staying halfheartedly would have been unfair to our team who deserve an experienced leader that is not only committed to the future of the company but to the development of their abilities.” - Justin Tan
He chose the latter option, which was more attractive given he would still have influence while providing financial stability through ongoing dividends, and decided to look for help.
He Enlisted the Help of Remote First Recruiting & Made the Hire
Justin started this process in April 2022 and hired their GM by the end of August 2022. He began reading the book "Who" and working with the Remote First Recruiting team to identify and source the right candidate. They strategized the correct job description, screened applicants, and partnered with Justin throughout the entire hiring process, providing insight, brainstorming, and understanding along the way.
A trusted partner helping navigate the daunting questions and fears that come with replacing yourself in your business:
How do I hire an extension of myself?
What if I mis-hire?
How can I trust my business with another person?
If I don’t take care of the details, who will?
Surprising Consequences of Not Letting Go
Even though he wasn't involved daily, Justin’s weekly "advice" to Fede (Video Husky's GM) made things worse for him and the Video Husky team. After accepting this, Fede and Justin changed to only meeting every 90 days, and things have improved.
Federico joined Video Husky in September 2022, which they spent doing handover. By October, they had transitioned to a weekly meeting and by January 2022, to a bi-weekly one. However, by March 2022, it became apparent that there were challenges with the transition.
The two issues that were around restructuring Video Husky's leave policy and the pace of transitioning their clients to the new pricing.
After speaking with 8 of the original team and understanding their perspectives on these challenges, Justin realized that neither the team nor Fede was the problem - he was.
“The solution was simple, even if painful to admit. The reality was my input was making things worse, not better, and if I put myself in Fede's shoes, having an "active" owner would likely be one of the worst conditions to work under. I realized that I was still clinging onto my title and identity as the founder of Video Husky, but unless I let that go, Fede would never have the autonomy necessary to move the company in the right direction.” -Justin Tan
Given that, Justin established a new purely owner-to-GM relationship with Fede where they would only meet once every 90 days with a minimum net profit amount he has to deliver.
The big lesson here was accepting his involvement doesn't always lead to better results.
Ouch. A humbling but important lesson.
Results
Fast Forward to Today: A new Justin & Thriving Team
Today they are ten months into this change, so far, so good. The numbers have trended in the right direction, and it seems like the staff is happy with the arrangement as well. Justin believes this has likely been not only helpful for Fede and the team but also good for him.
Since he can't distract himself with Video Husky, he’s been forced to think more about his future - something that he’s wanted to do but was scared of since leaving Video Husky.
Justin’s time is freed up to dream up new goals, strategize + watch as Video Husky continues to grow, expand, and enjoy his life.
What does this mean for you?
At Remote First Recruiting (& Dynamite Jobs), we’ve helped many like Justin hire that key player and replace themselves from the day-to-day of running their business.
If you’ve been putting this off because it’s intimidating, too freeing, or time-consuming, take this as your opportunity to tackle it. Others have done it before, and you can do it now.
If you need a trusted partner to strategize what this could look like for you, we’re here for you.
Book a call or check out our Best Practices
