“We get a board of directors and begin housekeeping, fine tuning our operations, combing through our books meticulously, but there was still something not adding up,” says Jackee Ombajo, Principal CEO and Co-founder of Trublaq Entertainment. She continues, “At that time, my brother was unwell. I was the General Manager wearing the hat of Human Resource Manager, Finance Manager and Operations too. The execution of the business was in my hands most of the time, and we found out I was the bottleneck, and that our structure needed to be evaluated and adjustments made”.

Most entrepreneurs don’t want to admit this to themselves, but they could be the very thing that’s impeding the growth of their business. Jackee says how in the former structure, they couldn’t take up new business up until the completion of the current one they were working on. The business could only operate up to the level that she could handle. Sitting down with the board, they all unanimously agreed they had to dismantle existing structures so the business can exist solely on its own, grow its feet and take off. The role she had held for years was split into three other positions. They proceeded to recruit and interview, but then, realised they couldn’t afford their interviewees.

She was surprised that some were asking for more money than she was taking home to do less than she was currently doing. Back to the advisory board they went, and the Board reiterated the, “don’t think about the money, focus on the skill” reminder. So they proceeded to hire. Months later, the hires they on-boarded made significant changes in their business operations, the company made leaps and for Jackee as GM, it resulted in a better overall understanding of how the business tapestry is weaved by the different arms.

Jackee Ombajo was a guest at Un.thinkable roast (our monthly 10X Growth Leaders Meet-up) in March 2020. Click here to apply for membership in Un.thinkable.