I recently read a book, Built to Sell by John Warrillow and spent a few moments reflecting on the challenges facing some of the clients I work with.

In the book Mr. Warrillow proposes that to sell a business you basically need to build a structure that can exist and continue without your day-to-day involvement. As I thought about some of the experiences I’ve had lately I wondered about a practice where the owners generate most of the income. Unfortunately whenever they are sick or on vacation top line revenue suffers. Another business owner spends 70 - 80 hours a week at the office working to keep things “running smoothly”. Conversely, a good friend has been out of town for two weeks now and his company has continued to see steady growth week after week.

I think that as a business owner it becomes critical to pause and take inventory of where you are, and ask yourself, “am I building a business or have I just created my own job for myself”. Creating your own job can be OK, as long as you recognize that’s what you’ve done. If, however, you have dreams of someday selling your company, or living a life away from the workplace you should strive to build a company where YOU don’t need to be there.