To serve my goal of giving you the frameworks and focus you need to systematically increase the value of your business, today I draw your attention to the “hub and spoke model” aka how to make sure your business has value even when you are not around.
Joining me to break this down for you is Louise Motuzas - Co-founder of Thrive Business Consulting, and an accredited exit planner.
How can a business owner have more free time and continue make their business more valuable?
The path to gaining true freedom over your time comes from strategic planning. First you’ll need to think about hiring the right people who are able to keep your business running. For many business owners, this can feel difficult at various points; and early stage founders are often fearful of poor hiring because of a few bad experiences.
Louise says that: “Hiring is one of the hardest things to do, but it's so important to hire before you need to hire and be very, very careful about what you're hiring for. Do not just take someone on because you have no choice or keep someone on because you feel some kind of loyalty to them. Maybe they were with you from the very beginning and now they are no longer serving the business's purposes. Being an owner and having to make those decisions is not easy. You will have to make some really hard decisions that will impact the lives of human beings. You have feelings and you may feel really bad about making some of these decisions. But they have to be made.”
A parallel piece to hiring is to document standard operating procedures
Having a clear job description, with clear roles and responsibilities that reflects the clear processes that exist within your business is key. There are many ways that you can accomplish standard operating procedures particularly for human resources without having to hire somebody full time in HR, if that is out of reach for your firm just now. “There are people now offering fractional services at great value when you compare it to what an employee may cost you full time. There are third parties that you can bring in that will do an excellent job” says Louise.
The dual need of capability and trust
Louise emphasizes the need to have someone you trust in charge when you are away as a business owner. “A competitor of mine went on a holiday where he was completely off the grid. He had a manager that he trusted who was in charge while he was gone. And while he was gone, they actually had a robbery and some damage was done but there was no way to get in touch with the owner. But you know what? He had the right person in charge who took care of everything. By the time that this person got back insurance adjusters had been in, windows were fixed, everything was done. The manager just took complete responsibility and that's the kind of person you want on your team.”
If you enjoy the audio medium, you’ll find a lot more in the podcast episode here. Have a listen!
If you are looking to make a cash rich exit from your business in the next 5-10 years, please continue to make time for this series. We have 5 more columns coming up. This Value builder masterclass series is sponsored by “Elevated Conversations” with me, Colleen O'Connell Campbell, a roundtable mastermind for co-founders and business owners who want a cash rich exit in the next five to 10 years.
An invitation to an Ottawa community
If you’re in Ottawa, you may be interested to hear that I'm reintroducing “Elevated Conversations” which originated in 2018 where I brought together smart investors and business owners to talk about interesting topics in technology and finance that were disrupting our world. With COVID and the end of dinner parties, we moved to virtual roundtables and now I’m bringing back masterminds in person
The event is on October 26, 2022, and is by invitation only.
Let me know via LinkedIn or email if you’re interested, and I’ll send you more information.