This game changer is taking a stand on delegating

Sean Egan’s company, Eganix, resides in a uniquely specialized industry. It manufactures environmentally-friendly pest and wastewater management products for stadiums, hotels, restaurants, airports, and municipalities. These products erase pollution in the water column and make operations run more smoothly. While Sean started the business in 2013, he’s been in pest control for over 20 years, apprenticing with an uncle beginning in his early 20s. It wasn’t a career path he saw for himself as a young man, but it’s one that he now enjoys. It allows him to lean into his particular professional strengths while challenging common business notions. 

Here’s how Sean Egan is doing things differently with his business:

On not being an industry outsider 
⁠I was always mechanically inclined, and not into or really great at science. I was good at selling and looking at inefficiencies in operations, and those are skills that have served me the most out of anything when it came to growing Eganix.
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⁠On his entrepreneurial superpower
⁠I have a gift for networking and sales and knowing how to steer a conversation. It’s probably where I’ve put most of my studies: into communications and syntax. I am very good at manipulating conversations to my own advantage.

On what every entrepreneur should drive for
⁠I think motivation is just part of who I am. It’s not something I think about. Every day I wake up is another day I’m focused on doing my best and growing in all areas of my life. It’s not just work that I focus on, but my family and myself. I think that’s what every entrepreneur should drive for.
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⁠If you’re in business for more than five years wearing 20 hats and still doing the same thing, I would look at why I’m not growing to the point where I can enjoy the fruits of my labor. It’s where all entrepreneurs want to go, but struggle to get to.
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⁠On how delegation and risk-taking go hand-in-hand
⁠I’m very good at delegating to make our internal operations much more efficient and run smoothly as a small business. Many owners struggle to let go of control or secure growth because they’re… scared to take the leap to put the right people in place.
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⁠It’s not that I didn’t have that fear, but I’m a natural risk-taker so it’s easier for me to do that. And I had great mentors that taught me that at a young age. I have always hung out with older people— I may not have always listened to them, but if they were smart then I did!
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⁠On who he turns to when faced with business challenges
⁠I’ll reach out to my network of fellow business owners, trusted people I’ve met over the years, and we all have different strengths. Depending on the obstacle I’m facing, I’ll defer to them and ask for different ways of looking at it.
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⁠I look for people who think differently than I do. I don’t want advice that I’d give. I think that’s important. My wife is our president and she’s the yin to my yang. It’s beneficial to have those kinds of people in your corner, family or network or not, to give you a different angle than you can come up with. Because you’re not always going to know what’s right, and if you’re always comfortable, that’s problematic. There’s a lot of discomfort in big decisions.