Why Solo Consultants Become the Bottleneck in Their Own Practices

In a recent LinkedIn post, Mark O’Donnell discusses how solo coaches and consultants can become bottlenecks in their own practices when every decision and client issue depends on them. This article reports on O’Donnell’s argument and the examples he shares from his business experience; it is coverage of his post, not an article written by him.

“But all that meant is nothing could move faster than I could.”

O’Donnell says he recognized the pattern firsthand while running a company that grew to nine businesses and divisions. He recalls that major decisions, problems and even “quick questions” landed on his desk. In his account, that dependence limited how quickly the organization could act. He draws a parallel with independent practices: when there is no system beneath the work, the owner effectively becomes the system.

Seven signs that work depends on the owner

According to O’Donnell, the bottleneck can show up in several parts of a practice. He lists seven signs, including work freezing when the owner takes time away, clients waiting for the owner’s answers, and the owner’s name appearing across sales, delivery, marketing, administration and bookkeeping. He also points to decisions held in personal notes or inboxes, clients who cannot easily explain the service, an overly broad mix of clients, and financial or pipeline problems spotted only after the month ends.

“There’s no system underneath the work, and so you end up being the system.”

That description connects O’Donnell’s central point: operational dependence is not only about having too much to do. It can also make it harder to take time off, delegate decisions, communicate the value of the service, or identify problems early. He frames these as questions for practitioners to consider, rather than as a formal assessment of any particular business.

How O’Donnell says EOS changes the model

O’Donnell credits the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) with helping him move out of the bottleneck role. He says the same systems thinking is built into the work of an EOS Implementer, who teaches a system while using one to run the practice. In his examples, clients meet quarterly, teams use the Issues, Discuss, Solve (IDS) process to work through problems, and client-owned planning documents keep decisions accessible.

Repeatable work and clearer measures

He also describes a defined client profile and a one-page EOS Process as ways to make the service easier to explain and refer. To monitor performance, he recommends using a weekly Scorecard with five to 15 numbers. As O’Donnell presents it, regular measures can help practitioners notice trouble before a slow pipeline becomes a slow quarter.

“You’d never let a client run their business like this…”

O’Donnell uses that line to turn the question back on practitioners: if they would advise a client to build systems, why might their own practice still depend on them for every decision? His post closes by promoting live sessions with Kelly Knight about the EOS Implementer path. The broader argument is that applying the operating practices taught to clients may help a solo practitioner move from being the essential point of contact toward building a more structured business.