Not an easy thing for a business owner to do.

As much as we think it should be a switch we can turn off - letting go of something we know we can do well, easily and quickly in our businesses - especially if that task brings in revenue - takes one critical piece.

Trust

Trust has to be established. If you’re lacking trust….you won’t be able to hand things off.

And establishing trust goes beyond whether we believe our team member to have the best interests of our business at heart.

There are components to trusting and letting go…

Did you know that 75% of business owners regret the sale of their business just one year after their exit?

No one wants to regret the sale of their business. Yet it happens time and again.

Even if selling isn’t in your immediate future, learning about some of the pitfalls can save you from disappointment:

Regret often looks like…

…a business owner who scored the “number” they thought they wanted, but failed to calculate how much would be taken for taxes.

…a business owner who learned after the fact that there were other exit options available, but now it’s too late.

…a business owner who thought “complete freedom” would be exciting, but feels lost as the months tick by.

One of the toughest aspects of running your business is wearing the many hats it takes to run your company.

However, to get yourself out of the spin cycle of your days, investing in building a high-performing team can elevate not only the space you can gain in your business to focus on strategy and goals, but to elevate your company’s results.

Through my work with my clients who are successful business owners and founders, we’ve been able to elevate their impact and overall company performance by embracing three core steps in building high-level support in their businesses:

I want to share a story about a business owner who was consistently feeling behind the eight ball…Always feeling 2 steps behind each week.

She was growing but everything was chaotic and she was exhausted.

She was struggling to deliver her services to her clients and grow her business - She was engaged in most of the business development, dealt with many of the clients and was the primary contact for any customer service issue.

She was onboarding a new team member yet because she was still a small business of only six, she was still wearing many hats each day.

Then, after working together, she was able to turn things around.

How?

Does your life ever feel like a whirlwind and it’s passing you by?

It can be challenging to move forward on your life’s goals and dreams if you don’t make space for them.

Creating the conditions to live your life by design and build a business intentionally is not impossible amongst your other responsibilities.

But building a sustainable business takes time.

And it’s easy to become impatient.

But if you take the steps and put the structure in place, the rewards will start to show up - even before you‘re finished.

If you’re a Solopreneur or a Business Owner with a team…how do you feel about taking vacations?

Is it something you do?

And do your vacations actually feel like a break or are you simply working from a different place?

Even if you are on your own there’s mindset, structures, and procedures you can incorporate when taking time away from your business.

And the extent to which you can do that is a reflection of how well your business can run without you.

This takes preparation…and it’s doable.

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be a ‘customer’ of your business?

To walk in their shoes?

You may use your own products and services but what I’m talking about is different. I’m talking about experiencing what they would experience.

How do you think your service delivery would stack up?

This is probably one of the most impactful exercises a business owner can do…

The number of decisions you make in a day can be astronomical.

And this can cause decision fatigue.

Decision fatigue can make us second guess our business decisions, slow us down, and make us feel like we’re missing out on opportunities.

We should have started that project by now…

My best employee has just resigned…

We need more clients but I feel like we can barely manage the ones we have…

This doesn’t make you a bad or unsuccessful business owner.

In fact, the more your business grows and expands, often the more situations you are faced with that require your input.

But if you ever wonder which direction to take, struggle with employee performance, or wonder how you’re going to continue to manage it all, then read on.

As we enter into the festive season and we begin to think about winding down for the year, I wanted to ask you: Do you perform an end of year review?

This is an opportunity to take stock, reflect and take a look at the bigger picture.

It’s been another tumultuous year and depending on where you live, perhaps a return to more things that are ‘normal’ for you.

Whether this is a practice you do each year or if you’re new to it, I wanted to share my process for my business review…

You've likely heard the adage that it’s far easier to cross-sell an existing customer a new product than it is to find a new customer. And if your goal is to grow at all costs, then cross-selling makes sense.

However, all of that sales growth may not do much for the value of your company. If you cross-sell your existing customers too much, it could make your business far less valuable.

When you cross-sell a customer so many products and services that they begin to account for more than 15–30% of your revenue, expect your value to drop. If a single customer represents more than 30% of your sales, expect an even deeper discount.

Customer concentration is one factor that makes up your score on the ValueBuilder assessment — it’s one of eight drivers that’s behind the research determining your business's value in an acquirer's eyes…

If you’re a business owner and you think building a strong foundation that leads to a valuable business isn’t for you - then I encourage you to continue to read.

You see - there’s a strong link between the value of the business and the freedom you, as the business owner, experience in your business.

I hear from so many owners that the reasons they started their businesses were to experience some sort of freedom - freedom to do work they want, freedom to create their own schedules, freedom to work when they want, and to create financial freedom. Yet, many don’t achieve these things.

Freedom = Value.

Why?

Are you making decisions aligned with your Mission?

First off, do you have a clear sense of your mission now? If you’re a business owner, what is your business’ mission?

If you’re a leader, what is your personal mission for leadership? What are you trying to accomplish in your organization? Is it aligned to your company’s mission?

If you are clear on your mission, then that’s the first step to ensuring that your decision-making is aligned and you move each day to fulfill your mission.

There are a number of metrics as a business owner for you to consider in the running of your business: revenue, pricing, expenses, profit, but there’s another important piece to knowing your numbers.

Understanding your cash flow.

Cash flowing through your business is like water flowing through a river; if it dries up, the environment around that river dries up and suffers.

You could have sales going through your business, but there’s a timing to cash flow and if that timing is off, it could hand-tie your business, inhibiting growth. If cash is running like that flowing river, then you have enough to fund growth and allow your business the flexibility it needs to operate.

The considerations that go into cash flow are largely around the timing of when money comes and money flows out, and ensuring there’s more coming in than going out.

For money coming in, consider things like…

As you work to grow your business, do you find yourself ever saying, “I’m not sure anyone else can do this,” or “what I do is so unique.”

OR, “I wouldn’t even know how to train somebody on this, I do it differently every time!”?

If you’re interested in scaling your business and growing your results, one of the most frequently raised topics of concern is about consistency and getting the rest of your team members to deliver.

“If I don’t do it, it won’t be the same client experience” or “We won’t achieve the same results.”

Some of these perspectives may be factual and some may not.

Even if it’s factual now, it doesn’t mean that can’t change.

Does your company bring you energy, increase your financial, emotional, and mental capital?

Or, is it sucking away your energy, and money you never seem to earn more of?

A business is a business when there’s equity to show for your investment. And has value to you and the world.

It’s painful to be reminded of the fact that life is short. But the gift in that reminder is to make the most of the time we have. That includes putting effort into growing your business so it provides the things you need it to provide for you.

If you’re putting up with drudgery, plateauing, or even putting off decisions, I’m here to say that there’s another way…

Maybe the reason your business is wearing you out isn’t necessarily because you’re burning the candle at both ends, or worried about making your bills, or because of another late order arriving.

While these are all worrisome and tiring, these could be symptoms of a deeper issue.

It could be due to a lack of capacity and diversity in one or all of three key areas: employees, suppliers, and/or customers.

How dependent you and your business is on any one employee, customer, or supplier can be a real indicator of business health, how high your business risk is, and how you, as the owner, are shouldering the effects of this directly. And, if that one employee is YOU, well that would be a signal of a lack of capacity or diversification of employees and skills sets.

I was recently speaking with a business owner who is dependent on one employee (themselves!) who tried to hire another employee recently.

They said ‘it didn’t work out’ and ‘it wasn’t a good fit’. And, they doubted that there would be a good employee out there that could do what they’re looking for.

I probed a little more and it became clear that they really didn’t believe another person could do what they could do and could serve the clients the same way they could.

I have heard variations on this theme from a number of business owners.

So what’s the answer?

Take a look at the three areas I mentioned and see how your business fares in these areas.

People start a business for all types of reasons. Some start looking for more freedom and flexibility or financial freedom. Some start because they have a great idea that they haven’t seen in the marketplace. Some want to create a legacy or make a positive change in their industry. Your reasons could be all, some, or other reasons for starting your business.

But whatever your reason is, this question is relevant to consider:

Do you want to create a valuable business?

What does valuable mean?

I’ll start by asking you as a business owner & leader - what do you need right now?

Maybe it’s a few more ‘deals’, maybe it’s to finish a project before year-end, maybe your work is winding down and you’re still shopping and thinking about preparing to celebrate the Holidays, and maybe it’s…rest.

Whatever the answer for you, I wanted to add some thoughts about what to consider as you wind down this tumultuous year.

Let’s talk about WHY you started your business:

Was it to:

• Have flexibility and freedom

• Secure a financial future for your family

• Make a difference in the lives of others through your products & services

• Make a greater impact more broadly on the world

• Do what you love to do

Do any or all of these reasons ring true for you?

There’s a power and practice we all have access to that I would say is one of the most underutilized tools in our everyday toolbox….and I would venture to say, also in life.

First, here are some questions to consider:

Do you ever feel like your business or work is happening to you - a force unto itself and you’re not really in the driver’s seat?

Have you often wondered about the next step to take or how to navigate tough decisions?

Do you feel regular swirling thoughts of uncertainty and lack of direction or lack of focus when you think about your work or business?

Do you find yourself off course often - realizing that what you were doing all day or all week isn’t getting you closer to your goals or aligned with your vision?

Here’s the thing: I know how it feels to be uncertain about the next steps, to feel like it’s ‘hard’ to figure out what’s next or to wade through the noise and chaos of what comes at us daily.

I have found a simple tool and practice helpful and I wanted to share it with you today.