Kota Kinabalu: Once a business becomes successful, it often ‘traps’ the founder inside it in a vicious, never-ending cycle.
The harder you work to grow your business, the more it starts to depend on you. And the more it depends on you, the more trapped you become inside it.
No wonder Entrepreneur.com reported 1 out of 2 business owners reporting burnout.
The irony is that most Sabah entrepreneurs don’t see it coming – and by the time they do, they’re already stuck with a business that demands their 24/7 attention to function.
This phenomenon, known as the "Founder's Bottleneck," will be the focus of an upcoming live seminar organised through a collaboration between Owners Circle Academy, SYBIL Network, and Daily Express.
But what exactly IS the Founder's Bottleneck – and why does it affect so many local business owners?
The invisible ceiling
In most Sabah businesses, the founder is involved in everything – sales, marketing, operations, financess, customer service, you name it.
Every decision runs through them because, well, who else is going to do it?
But here's the problem: as the business grows, the founder ends up working longer hours.
"Most business owners don't even realise they ARE the bottleneck," said Ray Chou, serial entrepreneur and founder of Owners Circle Academy, who will lead the seminar alongside finance expert Jeremy Chia.
"Nothing gets done without your permission. No one in your company knows how to act when problems show up. Nobody wants to claim ownership of any project because everything still needs to go through you."
Stuck between a rock and a hard place
According to Ray, this is where things start getting ugly.
If you push for MORE growth, you end up working even longer hours. Sixty-hour weeks become seventy. Then eighty. Your health suffers. Your family barely sees you. And still – the business can't function without you there.
But if you pull back? Growth stagnates. Revenue flatlines. Competitors start catching up.
It's a lose-lose situation that leaves many Sabah entrepreneurs feeling trapped inside the very businesses they built for freedom.
What’s worse is that this happens even in companies with established teams, all the latest tech, and multiple branches to push sales volume to the max – because the problem is intrinsic: the founders themselves are the bottleneck.
"If you can't even take a week off without your phone getting flooded by WhatsApp messages saying 'Boss, how ah? What to do?' then maybe it's time to evaluate why you started the business in the first place," Ray said.
"Most people start their own business to get away from the 9-to-5 grind and earn more money. But in reality? The majority end up earning inconsistent income and working overtime with little sleep and a lot of stress."
Ray, who has founded or co-founded 19 companies and successfully exited three, says this pattern repeats itself across industries – from F&B to construction, retail to professional services.
"The more the business grows under these conditions, the more trapped the owner feels. It's an invisible ceiling that most entrepreneurs hit without even knowing it exists."
The numbers problem that keeps owners spinning
Making matters worse, many business owners don't actually know if all that extra work is even paying off.
Jeremy Chia, Managing Partner of Chia, Ka & Partners PLT — an accounting firm serving over 300 clients across Malaysia — says this lack of financial clarity is directly connected to the Founder's Bottleneck.
"Here's what I see all the time: the owner is working harder than ever, the team is busy, everyone's hustling – but nobody actually knows if the business is making money," said Jeremy, whose firm was named Xero Malaysia Accounting Partner of the Year last year.
"They take one look at their bank account and think everything is fine. Only when we sit down and go through the numbers properly do they realise they've been spinning their wheels. Some of them are just barely breaking even after all the hidden costs."
Without proper financial visibility, Jeremy explains, owners and their teams keep running on the hamster wheel – working harder and harder without actually growing.
"You can't break out of the Founder's Bottleneck if you don't know which activities are actually profitable and which ones are just keeping you busy. That's why so many business owners feel exhausted but can't point to real progress."
Breaking the cycle
The three-hour seminar, titled "Business Freedom Blueprint: The 3-Pillar Growth Blueprint For 2026," will address what Ray describes as the three pillars necessary for breaking the Founder's Bottleneck:
- Having the right PEOPLE in the right seats (so you're not the only one making decisions)
- Establishing clear PROCESSES that run without the owner (so the business doesn't collapse when you take a day off)
- Implementing proper PROFIT systems (so you actually know what's working and what's bleeding money)
"The challenges in Sabah are somewhat different from West Malaysia – you have a smaller market and talent pool. That's why this training is specifically designed for East Malaysian entrepreneurs," said Ray, whose wife is from Sandakan.
Over the past five years, Ray has coached businesses that have collectively achieved growth exceeding RM3.6 billion in value.
His work has directly contributed to success stories such as Love Earth Organic, which tripled to 8-figure revenue in three years, and Above Creative Events, which went from nearly closing down during the pandemic to becoming a multi-million-ringgit business.
The seminar will be held at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) on January 24 and February 7.
Tickets are RM47 per person – exclusively for Sabah entrepreneurs who want to scale their business without sacrificing their sanity.
For registration and enquiries, visit
https://ownerscircleacademy.live/org?utm_medium=de or contact 018-2090233.
