From Owner to Investor: Building a Business That Can Thrive Without Your Day-To-Day Involvement
Last Update: Mar 15, 2023
Howdy, All-Y'all, [uniquely-special], Wealthy Affiliate members and the Wealthy Affiliate community; - "From Owner to Investor: Building a Business That Can Thrive Without Your Day-To-Day Involvement."
My hubby's family has always built businesses that can run on auto-pilot without their day-to-day involvement, so my hubby follows suit. He also taught me a lot about building or buying something, with the thought of selling it sometime in the future.
Even if the event I do not, I have this mentality instilled in me. And so if you expect to have buyers bid on your items or businesses, they have had to be top-notched and maintained adequately, can show precise figures and reports; bidders can work out their ROI, TOI, etc.
As an entrepreneur, you pour your heart, soul, and resources into building your business. You may create a company that depends heavily on you; however, if you are not careful, it can become a massive problem if you want to sell your business or take time away from work.
But with having a "Build to Sell" mentality, a business can operate smoothly without you; you build it from day one; this means building systems, processes, and teams that can keep the business running, even if you're not there. It's an intelligent strategy.
You would be creating something with intrinsic value beyond your involvement. This can make your business more attractive to potential buyers, investors, and partners.
When your business doesn't depend on you, you can pursue other interests, take time off, or even sell the business without disrupting its operations.
If your business can't function without you, it's vulnerable to changes in your life or circumstances. By building a company that can operate independently, you're creating a more resilient and stable enterprise.
So how exactly do you do about it?
- Documenting your processes and procedures can ensure consistency and reduce your time on repetitive tasks. I learned the importance of constant mobility rather than being stationary a while ago, which has proven beneficial. And have teams set up so that everyone follows the same procedures.
- Focus on hiring the right people, training them well, and creating a positive company culture that encourages collaboration. Dependent, I may offer incentives such as shares in the business, which they could buy off their salaries.
- You are delegating, delegating, and delegating. That's if the intention is to have a business operating without you. Work on empowering your teams to take on such tasks and responsibilities.
- Hiring professionals to handle accounting and inventory management, customer services, and marketing.
- Focusing on scalability; means designing your business in a way that can be easily replicated or expanded as it grows.
While building a business that can thrive without you is a smart strategy, it's challenging.
- There are instances where you may lose control over every aspect of your business. Such examples include rapid growth, burnout, health issues, changes in market conditions, legal issues, and partnership disputes. A backup plan becomes a must to ensure the long-term success of your business.
- Another challenge could be building trust. Would you trust your team to do an excellent job in your absence; trust takes time, and it's essential if you want to create a business that can thrive without you.
- You are maintaining consistency in the quality of your products or services.
- To also find the right balance between delegation and control.
What are some examples of businesses that have successfully built to sell? Instagram, Dollar Shave Club, Twitch, Jet dot com.
These companies were all built to sell by creating a product or service that was highly desirable to larger companies and investors, focused on growth and scalability, and aiming to maximize value to potential buyers.
In conclusion, building a business that can thrive without you is a smart strategy for any entrepreneur who wants to create something with long-term value with the right mindset and approach.
(Not so short, but sweet and right on point.)
Thoughts are welcome. ✌
"Productivity is what I do. CTA is my middle name." - My Motto!
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I hope ALL-Y'all have a great, super productive day!
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"@TheAbie - Wealthy Affiliate."
Recent Comments
48
Very interesting article, Abie. I have tried to do this with one of my sites. Of course there is no staff at this point. At some point, I hope that the work and time put in will enable a sale. It is good to plan this way, not matter what the business.
Jim
Thank you for your feedback and insight!
It's great to hear that you're also working towards building a business that can be sold.
Best of luck to you and your site!
Hi, Abie
Great post!
I built my last medical practice that way, in many respects.
My wife was my office manager and my sister was my receptionist.
The three of us took synchronized vacations and enjoyed our time off together.
We had backup family members who were trained to fill in as paid employees, if necessary.
My accountant, lawyer, etc., were all trusted and reliable family members and friends.
I designed scalable systems that worked in conjunction with my admitting hospital’s SOPs and administrative culture. This included business relationships with their outpatient testing and diagnostic facilities.
That flexibility allowed me to also work as a part-time biomedical engineer and informatics consultant, between seeing patients.
Care New England bought the medical practice thirty years later and offered me a medical consulting position.
All-in-all, I practiced medicine full-time for forty years.
Between all that, I managed to get a Masters degree in healthcare informatics, spend lots of high-quality time with my wife, and play guitar at least two hours a day.
Now, I have a very “fluid” organizational system, but somehow everything always gets done with good results. It’s in line with my underlying musician’s mentality.
Wow, time really flies by when you’re doing what you enjoy! 😎
Rock On 🤘
Frank 🎸
That's really impressive and inspiring, Frank! You have done really well.
It's great that you had a robust support system of trusted family and friends to rely on and that you could pursue other passions.
Your story is a testament to the power of designing scalable systems and having a flexible organizational structure. Thank you for sharing your experience!
My hubby has the very same mentality though his experiences are different. However, all routes lead to the same mill, so to speak.
Thank you, Frank! I appreciate your profound and astounding comment.
Off-topic, we need to work out the new GPT-4 lol I am mindblown lol
Have a nice day, Frank! 🚀✌😍
Thanks, Abie! That means a lot coming from you! 😎 Yeah, GPT-4 is awesome. Much more human responses with image integration and tremendously enhanced speed and capability. AI is becoming very useful for me in more scientific endeavors. Not as helpful for my guitar website. I just pulled info from GPT-3.5 on guitar fret size pros and cons. More than half the info needed to be corrected! Rock On! 🤘 Frank 🎸
That's interesting, Frank! It's great to hear about your experience with GPT-3.5 and how it's been helpful in your scientific endeavors. I'm sure it will continue to improve over time. I still have a lot to learn about AI, but I'm taking it one step at a time. Even though I may be a bit behind, I always manage somehow. Thank you again for your reply. I appreciate it.
Yeah, I was speaking about what I learned about GPT-4 at the OpenAI live stream. I wish I had access to GPT-4, but I'm still at 3.5, like everyone else. You're doing great, Abie! No worries there! 👍💪 I wonder what level of access we'll get for Bard. Will there be a "playground" type environment, or will it just be available through their search engine? I would think that to compete with OpenAi; Google will have to match that resource at least. ... We'll see, shortly! 😎
Frank, it seems like I'm getting a bit tired. Aren't I? Bard is currently available to only a select few rather than the general public. It's interesting to learn more asap - You sound like a little kid in a candy store, lol Me too! I'm also excited and looking forward to it.😍✌💕🙏
Hi Abie.
You wrote
"As an entrepreneur, you pour your heart, soul, and resources into building your business. You may create a company that depends heavily on you; however, if you are not careful, it can become a massive problem if you want to sell your business or take time away from work"
Herein lies the problem. Sometimes a brand and a business are built on YOU and YOUR brand. YOU are the brand and if it scales up that 'personal touch' is lost. As we discussed before the USP is sometimes just you. I can think of many small businesses that rely on this. There is one guy in the UK that sells pies - it's a one-man business and people buy because of his personality. He's based in Yorkshire and if you take him out of the equation it would never work. The personal touch is key here.
It depends on your business model. If the idea is good and not based on you being the brand then aim for a 5-year exit point. If it's a one-man band and that brings the $$$$ in then stick with it.
Much of this depends on ambition and what you want in life. If you are happy and content then this is the most important thing in life. It doesn't matter if you clean toilets for a living or set up a muti million-pound business. Make the most of your life and this is your route to being successful.
I hope that makes sense. Hey, chuck us in a bit more ice cream will yus ;-) Ty Abie.
Paul
I completely agree with you.
The personal touch can make all the difference in certain businesses.
Depending on the business's goals and ambitions, the exit point is also something to consider. Ultimately, what matters most is being happy and content with your life and career, regardless of the level of success.
My hubby aims for the skies, lol, and I accompany him.
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This is so true especially when your dreams are bigger than you can or are willing to spend time for. I have tons of business ideas and am running against the wall of "I have only one brain, two hands, and 24 hours a day". Documenting, delegating, and teaching others to do the repetitive work is always a good idea. The entrepreneur must do the creative work. That is what a real entrepreneur loves the most. Creating businesses for opportunities. Being operationally involved in the start-up phase and after it has taken off for the long haul let it run by competent people. As many times, your posts appear to be written for me. I am in that phase that I want to withdraw my wife and me from the daily operations of our rental business in Bali. We want to be the investors and free-time for internet business opportunities and holidays :-)
Yes and the business is for sal LOL.
We wanted to buy condos in Bali a few years back. However, the red tape wasn't in our favor, so we didn't. It is a wonderful place.
I am with you; hands-free is a better option.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences. I agree entirely that documenting, delegating, and teaching others to do the repetitive work can be a great way to maximize your time and focus on the creative work essential to building successful businesses. It's important to recognize that, as entrepreneurs, we can't do everything ourselves, and it's crucial to build a team of competent people who can help us achieve our goals. I'm glad to hear that my posts resonate with you, and I hope they continue to provide valuable insights and inspiration.