How to scale up your business to work without you

At ActionCOACH our definition of a successful business is a "Commercial Profitable Enterprise that Works without the Business Owner".  If it doesn't, the business is broken.  You don't own a business you own a "JOB".

Getting the business working harder so you don't have to is one way to create a more valuable and sellable business.   One strategy to do this is by training others in your area of expertise. This strategy is simple, so why is it so difficult to execute?  

It can be tough to grow a service business. Clients are typically buying your expertise, and if all you have to sell is time, the size of your business will always be limited by the number of hours in your day.  We have to forget our business is not about us, but what solutions we can provide our customers.

One way to scale up your service business is to launch a training division to teach others what you know.  That's what John Taylor did when he found himself run ragged trying to grow Nova Data Testing, a Jacksonville FL based non-destructive testing company.

John found that since he was the only one in his company that had some high level certifications, he was the only one that could do those jobs.  Since he was in the field with his guys most of the time, it left little time or energy left for growing the business.  He still loved the business but hated the constant demands on her time and energy.

In an effort to pull himself out of individual projects, we worked together to first document systems of what each team member is responsible for when out on a job.  Next, we worked on building his team around his company’s 10 Points of Culture.  

Once we got the right guys on the team, he began to train them to take over and lead the jobs that didn’t need his level of certifications.  Also during this time, he began to train his key team players to get the higher level certifications that only he had.  He would go as far taking them to a hotel 2 days before the exam to just get away and cram with them for the exam.

Due in part of his focus on training his team in the areas that only he had expertise, this August he was able to take the whole month of August off to go back packing in the mountains out west.  

Increase the value of your company by training others in your area of expertise.

It can be tough to grow a service business. Clients are typically buying your expertise, and if all you have to sell is time, the size of your business will always be limited by the number of hours in your day.

One way to scale up your service business is to launch a training division or just schedule set times to teach others what you know. That's what John Taylor did when he found himself run ragged trying to grow Nova Data Testing, a Jacksonville based non-destructive testing firm.

As business owners, we all know we should be documenting our systems for others to follow, but somehow writing our owner's manual or training our team for certifications always takes a backseat to serving the next customer or fighting the next fire.

Maybe what we need to do is stop thinking of writing down our process as an internal chore and instead focus on launching a training division. That way, the job of documenting our system goes from a textbook-boring task to the raw material needed to get your business working harder so you don't have to.

 Check out our upcoming events at www.bizsuccessevents.com 

In creating a more valuable business, it is always the little things that get the big results. Our Business Health Check will give you invaluable insights into the many areas of your business that if tweaked will increase the value of your business.

By completing the Business Health Check, you will receive a Free Report based on your answers, prepared by our team of highly skilled Business Coaches.
CLICK HERE to take your Business Health Check Now

Steve Goranson has owned and operated the Northeast Florida of ActionCOACH since 2014.  ActionCOACH is the World's #1 Coaching franchise with of 1000 offices in 50 different countries. They coach over 15,000 business each week.
Steve's commitment is to assist small business owners, to spend less time working "in" their business and more time working "on" their business so they can build a more valuable and sellable business. In the end, you’ll be spending less total time working, will be making more money and will have truly created the company and team you always dreamed of. In addition we will help you put the FUN back in your business and your life.

8 ways to know if you have a job or own a business

The ultimate test of your business can be found in a simple question: would someone want to buy your company?

Whether you want to sell next year or a decade from now, you must be building an asset someone would buy – otherwise, you have a job, not a business.

Here are eight ways to ensure you are building a company, not just doing a job:

1. A job requires that you show up at work to make money, whereas a company generates revenue whether you are there or not. 
2. If your company is so reliant on a single customer that they can dictate how you deliver your product or service, your company is more like a job than a valuable business. 
3. A job is a place where your personal reputation impacts your results, whereas a company is a place where the brand is more important than the personality of the founder(s)
4. A job requires you to use your personal experience and expertise to get a result, whereas a company is a place where a process – not a person – consistently produces a desirable result. 
5. In a job, you get fired for taking too much vacation, whereas if you own a company, the more vacation you can take without impacting your company’s performance, the more valuable your business will be.
6. In a job, the harder you work, the more money you earn. In a company, the smarter you work, the more money you earn.
7. In a job, you solve the problems. If you own a company, your employees solve the problems.
8. If the majority of your customers know your mobile phone number, it’s likely you have a job, not a company. 

If you’re not sure whether you have a job or own a business, it’s time to get your Sellability Score. 

Whether you want to sell now or in a decade, the Sellability Score assessment allows you to see your business as a buyer would see it, and to identify how you perform on each of the eight key drivers of sellability. 

The questionnaire takes about 13 minutes to complete, and after you’re finished you’ll get a customized 27-page report outlining how you performed and where you could improve the value and sellability of your company. Get your score now....  www.actioncoachsellabilityscore.com