As a business owner, it can feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. Too often, even the simplest day-to-day operations rely on your constant availability. You slog away at night, start work at the crack of dawn and take a mere few days’ holiday each year just to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

According to our latest study, this is a regular occurrence. The For Love Or Money research found that more than two fifths of UK company owners believe their business could not survive for more than a week without them, while more than one in ten believe it could only manage for up to three days.

Not only does this put the business at risk. The research further reveals that business owners are re-investing their wealth back into their company and eschewing other investment options and lavish lifestyles, including the humble pension, in the hope that their business will provide for their financial future.

Can you be too critical to your business? Is an over-reliance on you putting your company, your employees and your own financial security in jeopardy?

Changing mindset

This over-reliance might not be advisable, but it is understandable. I often meet business owners who carry their start-up mindset through to the later stages. After all, getting a business off the ground is exciting, busy and rewarding – in many cases the biggest achievement of your life and creates a buzz like no other. It’s difficult to move away from that and to let that feeling go. What would you do instead?

The end result is that day-to-day tasks and small decisions (which inevitably come in high volumes) take over, and leave little time for business owners to “think” as well as “do”. But giving yourself time to get off the hamster wheel and step back is paramount to running a successful business and sustaining growth.

It's not good to do everything yourself

Yes, your involvement in certain day-to-day operations is essential, but an established business thrives on a solid strategy, clear roles and an efficient team.

Another major cause of this over-reliance is recruitment. Just because you’re a natural at running a business doesn’t mean you’re necessarily skilled at recruiting a high performing team. In fact, we are all hard wired to want to hire people who are like us, with similar personality traits and skills.

In reality, successful business owners surround themselves with people who aren’t afraid to challenge their opinions and offer an alternative point of view, and they mix up the skill set.

This can mean that, even if you are prepared to carve out that time to step back, take stock and work on your business strategy, work can end up landing back on your desk anyway. This isn’t a long-term solution.

Reinforcing accountability is a vital part of mitigating such problems – job descriptions have to be successfully communicated and individuals need to understand what parts of the business they are responsible for – especially when they are being promoted into more senior roles.

Clarity and accountability

Relieving the pressure on your own personal availability comes down to having the right people in the right roles and being clear on lines of responsibility.

It is also important to be crystal clear on your vision and to communicate this effectively with your employees, so that they can understand how their work contributes towards this and share the responsibility for achieving success. Only then can business owners truly lead and not just manage, and start to let go even more.

It's important to have someone to talk - even when you're at the top

An effective appraisal process is also a key part of ensuring that everyone is performing in line with expectations, both for new hires and for long-standing members of staff. It provides you with an opportunity to clarify responsibilities, provide feedback before problems arise and to offer advice and support where it’s needed, including identifying star talent early on.

The “loneliness of command”

With big leaps towards success comes a raft of challenges – the two seem to go hand and hand. For many people, this fills the void left by the feverish buzz of starting up a business when things become more settled and thoughts turn to stability and growth.

When times get tough, having someone to talk to can be vital and many of my clients complain of what we refer to as the “loneliness of command”.

Build a strong network – both internally and externally – and get into the habit of exchanging help and advice with others who face similar situations to your own and can share their tips for success.

This will not only minimise the risk and the extent to which your company relies on you, but will also help you to start finally enjoying more of those hard earned rewards knowing that your company is in safe hands.

Michael Davidson is Managing Partner at top 15 UK accounting firm Haines Watts.