Let’s assume for a minute we can all agree that if you are a business owner, then being able to eventually sell your business is part of your goal.
If it’s not, then let’s just say you are leaving a lot of money on the table and value you could be adding to what you are already doing by just closing things down rather than finding a buyer to pay you to take over what you’ve built.
But even if this is the goal, why do so many businesses not make it? The main issue is the owner has never really created a business but instead has created a job, and it’s very hard to sell someone a job!
How do you know if your business is a business or a job? Here are a few questions to help you decide:
- Do you make all the important decisions?
- Do you do all the sales calls?
- Do you have complete control over all the financials and spending?
- Do you make all the hiring and firing decisions?
- Most critically- if you were gone for two weeks- totally out of communication- how well would the business run without you?
Check out what else we’ve been up to!
- Matt Reviews: Does Branding Allow You to Charge More? (Short Video)
- Matt Reviews: What’s the Actual Solution to this Mistake? (Short Video)
- Matt Reviews: Can AI Mow Your Lawn Now? (Short Video)
- Business for sale, Would I Buy It? | California Meal Prep Business (Short Video)
- Accounting & Bookkeeping Principles for Success (Podcast)
The deciding factor here isn’t really how many people you have working with you. I’ve seen businesses with two employees that didn’t need the owner at all and businesses with thirty-five employees that wouldn’t last a week if the owner didn’t show up.
If you find yourself in that situation, then it’s going to be difficult to find someone who will want to take that on, even if you make pretty decent money.
On the other hand, if you are able to delegate tasks, decision-making, sales, etc., and take off weeks at a time without the business falling apart, then that is going to be very attractive to a buyer.
So which side of the spectrum do you fall on? If it’s more the job side, then now is the time to start looking at your daily to-do list and figuring out how you can change things to be less dependent on you. Start small. Check to make sure it still gets done properly even when you don’t take the lead. Then move on to the next item, and the next and so on.
When you’re not the bottleneck on everything, there is a big increase in satisfaction in seeing the business run well on its own and a big stress relief that everything isn’t on your shoulders.
Some people just can’t seem to ever let go, and that’s unfortunate for them.
But my suggestion is to try it and keep working on it until you get there. Not only will your business be worth much more, but you’ll now suddenly have options- sell it, keep it but work less and less, or keep it and work not at all. When you have options, things suddenly feel a lot more peaceful and freeing. If that’s something you’d like to get from your business, this is the path that gets you there!