How To Build Businesses That Run Themselves
An entrepreneur’s job is never done. This is especially true for serial entrepreneurs or those who aspire to become serial entrepreneurs.
There is always a new problem to solve, a new adventure is always around the bend and in order not to wear yourself thin, whether as a serial or non-serial entrepreneur you need to build an organisation that can function without you.
it would be unwise of me to forget that every business owner has a different reason for starting a business, for some, it is to solve a need, for others, it is to gain financial freedom, for others, it may be to work for themselves, or some other goals.
This means that not every business owner want to be removed from the day to day running of their business. however, this article would be a great help to business owners who don’t want to stop the day to day running of their businesses, but want to reduce their workload while maximizing productivity.
But first,
Why do you need to build a business that can run itself?
There are two broad reasons why building an autonomous business is helpful: Personal or Organisational. The first reason is personal. Personal reasons are those that affect you as a person, factors such as health, Time management, Social wellness etc re good examples of personal reasons. On the other hand, building an autonomous business can be a plus for your organisation, due to the fact that succession and risk-taking are benefits of
1. Health: having a 9–5 can be stressful but building a business does take it up a few notches. Prolonged periods of stress can lead to various health problems, both physical and mentally. Hence, building a business that can run without you would definitely reduce the stress levels.
2. Time: Time is one of the most important resources known to man and entrepreneurship often needs a lot of it. Every entrepreneur can agree that building a business is a big time suck and while it is for a good reason, it can lead to you not having time for other important things in your life. it is easy to have little to no personal time when building a business, this can take a toll on relationships, personal development, and even your ability to make great decisions. Building an autonomous business would free you up to pursuing other things that are just as important to you as your business
3. Productivity: You may have heard of Pareto’s Principle, that 20% of your input produces 80% of your results. This means that even though you may be very busy in the everyday running of your business, that you may not be the most productive. Hence the free time you get from building an autonomous business gives you the freedom to focus on work that is most important but not urgent.
4. Long Term Viability: If your business can run without you then it is safe to say that you have built a very healthy business. building a business that does not need you to survive is a great sign that your business venture can play the long game.
5. Plan B/Succession: What happens if you fall sick, or for some reason are unable to run the business, would your absence be a killing blow to the business? this question is especially relevant for people who want to build businesses that will outlive them. hence having a business that is not dependent on you is essential for that dream to be a reality.
With all these reasons stated, the next question becomes,
How to get your business to run without you?
Hire well: this doesn’t just refer to hiring very skilled employees. It is about hiring people with a mix of great skill, passion and shared values. This will ensure that you not only have the best staff skill-wise, but you will also have staff that share the same values and are interested in your vision.
Great ways to find out if your hires would be great fits for your business are:
1. Ask deep questions and observe the answers your potential hire give.
2. Critically assess their work history to find patterns.
3. Also, don’t forget to invest in your employees.
Create Structure: to build an autonomous business you need to build infrastructure that grants autonomy to your staff with minimal supervision. This point comes right after you have hired very skilled and committed individuals because you need a great team to pull this off.
To do this you will need to observe your business closely in order to create templates that your team can follow to obtain streamlined results.
Leverage Technology: This one is simple, leverage technology to automate as much work as you can. There are a lot of softwares and machines that can make running your business so much easier.
Outsource: This is similar to leveraging technology. it requires you to take a deep look at your business operations and try as much as possible to outsource jobs that are not at the core of your business and are either hard to automate, or cannot be automated.
Go on breaks: to build an autonomous business you need to test how well it will do without you. so don’t be too scared to go on short breaks from the business. it will reveal how much progress you have made and how much is still left to do.
Building a business that can run itself is a product of great observation, intentionality and leveraging on the strengths of others.
So, what type of business owner are you?
