The 4th Commandment Of Value Building For Small Business Owners

Do NOT Hold All The Reins

My client Dave ran his finishing business for 35 years. After he talked with a broker and heard how little he could get for his company he reached out to me. His wife wanted him to travel with her more. And he wanted more days for golfing on the great courses around the world.

His question to me was “I want you to tell me WHO here I can turn the running of the business over to.”

I’m Linda Feinholz and I work with Business Owners Who Don’t Want to Get STUCK In Their Business.

The next commandment for owners who want more Control, more Value and more Freedom is Thou Shalt NOT Hold All The Reins.

As you might guess, in his heart Dave already knew the answer.

I interviewed his head of sales, his head of R&D and quality assurance, his head of operations, his head of planning and his head of customer service.

As with most small and mid-sized business owners he started his company by splitting off from an employer, and created a company where he knew the products and services and the customers. He even brought one of his buddies along to run part of the operation.

Now, 35 years later he wanted out.

But he’d built his business around himself so that it fit him like a glove. It let him be effortlessly him. Right?

So after 35 years he’d created a team where every single one of them came to him for decisions on nearly every action they took.

I uncovered that the each person went about their jobs and never spoke to each other, only to him.

There were no meetings unless he randomly called one, and then he’d talk at them for 3-4 hours. There were no discussions. No planning, No problem solving. Not much thinking going on at all.

You might think this was the end of things. It wasn’t.

We installed a whole new way for each of them to grow in their capabilities and responsibilities. They learning how to be accountable for thinking and solving things. Together they designed new systems for keeping track of operations and communicating with customers.

And Dave learned how to explain what he was looking for so that they could demonstrate their capabilities to him, gain his trust and be given control in their areas of the company.

I’ll always remember the day I started a meeting with his head of customer services and she said “You’ll be so proud of us! I spotted an issue with one of our customers this morning and called a meeting with our planner and head of sales and in 10 minutes we got it solved!”

You BET I was proud of them!

And proud of Dave for being willing to learn how to step back from holding all the reins.

Within 6 months he had a powerful high functioning team. He was out on the golf course, available to do training with his team and to work with them to solve complex issues. And two years later he was able to sell the company.

So let me ask you. If you were absent from YOUR company for 90 days, what state would it be in On Day 91?

If it’s been your habit to build your company so that it fits YOU, you may be tying yourself into the company rather than creating one that is stable, and thriving without you.

That is what bankers, brokers and prospective buyers look at to determine if you’ve created a company with Control, Value and Freedom for the owner.

If you’d like a copy of the Guide and Checklist on the 12 characteristics of thriving businesses, you can get it at OnDay91.com/guide

By the way, if you know another talented, smart, hardworking business owner who frankly could use a bit more ease and their company could use a boost in control and value, share this with them. I want to help as many people as I can achieve the Freedom they’re looking for.

Talk to you soon.

.

P.S. Whenever you’re ready… here are 4 ways we can help you stabilize and grow your business:

1. Grab a free copy of our Guide and Checklist

It’s the roadmap to creating a stable, scalable, valuable business that is so healthy you could be absent for ninety days and it would continue to thrive. — Click Here

2. Join the On Day 91 group and connect with business owners who are resetting and scaling too

It’s our new Facebook community where smart business owners learn to get more control of their business, value for their company, and freedom in how they use their time. — Click Here

3. Join our Momentum Program and be a Case Study

We’re putting together a new case study group at On Day 91 this month… stay tuned for details. If you’d like to work with Linda on your business-pivoting and growth plans… just send her a message with the words “Case Study”. — Click Here

4. Work with Linda and her team privately

If you’d like to work directly with Linda and the On Day 91 team to take you and your business to it’s next level… just send Linda a message and with the word “Private”… tell her a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and we’ll get you all the details! — Click Here

#OnDay91

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