You are probably reading this blog for one of three reasons:
1. You want your business to run with as little involvement on your part as possible.
2. You don't think your business can grow without you.
3. You want to know how your business can be successful without you.
Ever since Tim Ferriss published The 4-Hour Work Week, I feel that many business owners are chasing that dream, trying to turn Tim's book into their reality.
Below, I will show you not only how your business can succeed without you, but how it can thrive.
The reality is that your business should be so organized—and well thought-out—that it can run without you. If your business only exists because of you, then you don't have a business, you have a job.
Great business owners create systems that run themselves. Are they still involved? Of course, but only because they want to be. Any system needs to be monitored and adjusted as the environment changes and the system evolves.
Do you believe that your business can run without you, but you are still working insanely long hours? Are you frustrated that your business isn't running smoothly with less of your involvement after years of effort? Let me suggest that the problem may be you.
It's not that you are a bad business owner, but maybe you haven't made the mental shift that is necessary to begin down the path of automating your business. One of our favorite taglines at networking events is, "We help small business owners get out of their own way."
If you struggle with delegation and empowerment, then your business will most likely never run smoothly without you. You are standing in the way of your business growing without you.
The very first step of having a business that runs without you is getting comfortable with the fact that it is possible.
The answer to that question is because you want it to. You desire the freedom that it offers. You want the financial independence. You want to stop working your ass off day in and day out for the scraps that are left over after you pay everybody else.
More importantly, a business that runs smoothly with minimal owner interaction will be more attractive to someone who may be interested in buying your business. What I am talking about here is exit planning.
Many business owners work their tail off to get their business to a certain point. It could be a certain revenue level, a state of profitability, etc. The problem is that customers associate the owners with the business. If the owner is not in the picture, customers don't want anything to do with the business. In other words, they—the business owner—are the business. Nobody wants to buy a business where the owner is vitally important.