Build a 7-Figure Team Without Burnout
Jun 06, 2025From Overwhelmed to Operationally Empowered
"High performance starts with boundaries. You can't scale without work-life balance."
Derek’s definition of high performance isn’t about pushing harder. It’s about strategic discipline. He emphasized two foundational pillars for founders:
- Work-life balance: Without intentional recovery, energy is depleted. Scaling is not sustainable without margin.
- Disciplined focus: Know your lane. Own your time. Delegate or eliminate the rest.
Many founders are stuck not because of lack of effort but because they're tangled in operations. Derek's mission is to free them.
The COO Solution: Vision Meets Execution
After scaling his wife’s coaching business into a self-managing company, Derek realized his integrator gift could help others. In 2024, he launched TheCOOSolution.com to serve scaling founders through:
- Fractional COO services
- Online Business Management (OBM) support
- Strategic operational audits
These services help visionaries exit the day-to-day and enter their zone of genius.
"A visionary makes it up. A COO makes it real. Then we make it recur."
Through proven systems and people alignment, The COO Solution delivers predictability and scale. Their approach is grounded in clarity, accountability, and execution.
Framework: Time Audit to Team Empowerment
The first step? A brutal time audit. Most founders are unknowingly the bottleneck. Here’s how Derek leads them out:
- Activity inventory: Track every task over a week.
- Circle visionary tasks: Sales, strategy, vision, content.
- Underline operations: Customer service, scheduling, delivery.
- Delegate, automate, outsource: Remove the founder from tasks that drain time and energy.
"You can scale systems. You can't scale chaos."
By defining clear seats, hiring based on alignment (not likeness), and using assessments like Kolbe, DISC, and StrengthsFinder, Derek installs the team infrastructure founders dream of.
Key Takeaways for Founders This Week
- Run a time audit: Circle CEO-level tasks. Underline what drains you. Start there.
- Write real job descriptions: Hiring copy matters. Sell your culture. Clarify the seat before the person.
- Use AI as your silent team member: Prompt it to write SOPs, build dashboards, or suggest workflows.
- Outsource to VAs early: At $150k-$250k revenue, get admin support immediately.
- Hire an OBM at $500k+: Bring in operational thinking before you’re in crisis.
Real Results from Fractional COO Support
Derek has helped businesses:
- Sustain multiple 7-figure revenues without founder burnout
- Implement fully virtual, globally dispersed teams before it was the norm
- Shift from whack-a-mole mode to strategic execution across marketing, ops, and finance
He shares:
"You can't scale complexity, but you can scale clarity."
By treating your COO as an air traffic controller and your OBM as a project leader, every function begins working in harmony.
Free Resources to Help You Scale
📚 Free Workshop: Learn how to scale to six and seven figures using AI and proven systems: https://linkin.bio/nathannewberry
💡 Take Derek's Quiz: Find out if now is the right time for a COO or OBM at TheCOOSolution.com
If you’re early-stage, start leveraging AI to build your backend. If you're nearing $1M, don’t go another quarter winging it. Build your dream team now.
The Cost of Delay
Every day a founder stays buried in operations is a day they lose creative energy and long-term impact. What Derek shows is simple: freedom comes from structure.
It’s time to stop being the bottleneck. You were made to lead, not manage.
Book a call with Derek today.
"We don't take control of your business. We give you control back."
Share this post with an entrepreneur who needs to hear this message about business harmony!
About the Author: Nathan Newberry helps elite business owners implement AI in sales, marketing, systems, and models to build rapidly successful brands. He specializes in helping founders implement Sell By Chat strategy to buy back their time and double their revenue within 6 months using his Elite Sales Model.
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