The Self-Managing Business: a Checklist for Growth and Freedom

Growth or Freedom?

Many business owners have what appear to be competing desires.

They want to take their business to the next level. To grow and make more money.

At the same time, they want freedom. They don’t want a life that is totally consumed by their business.

The path to BOTH of these outcomes lies in developing a self-managing business that runs efficiently without the owner’s constant involvement.

When YOU are not personally involved in every action and decision, you can take on more work and trust your team to deliver. You are no longer the bottleneck that prevents growth.

A self-managing business also gives you your life back.

You get time freedom so that you can leave at a reasonable hour, take weekends off, or go on an extended vacation.

Here’s what you need to do to create a self-managing business.

7 Steps to a Self-Managing Business

How many of these do you have in place?

1. Develop Systems and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for every aspect of your business.

You need systems for customer service, production, accounting, hiring, recruiting, sales, and marketing.

By documenting your processes into Standard Operating Procedures (SOPS), you create a roadmap for your team to follow, ensuring consistency and efficiency.

SOPs also make it easier to train new employees, delegate tasks, and scale your business.

2. Get other people to perform the services of your business and look after customers.

Next, get other people to perform the services of your business.

If you’re an accountant, for example, hire others to do accounting.

Then assign someone to be in charge of customer service.

This person should be responsible for resolving customer complaints, answering inquiries, and providing support.

3. Hire a VA.

Free up your time by hiring a virtual assistant (VA).

Your VA can prioritize emails and calls, forwarding only the ones that require your attention.

This ensures that you are not bogged down by trivial matters and can focus on high-value tasks.

4. Hire someone (or a team) to sell your product or service.

You should consider outsourcing marketing first, then sales as one of the final stages.

Hiring a team to sell your product or service can help you scale your business quickly.

This also ensures that you have a dedicated team working on revenue-generating activities.

5. Monitor business performance.

Create a scorecard or dashboard that includes forward-looking Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that reliably predict the health of your business in the future, as well as lagging indicators that show how your business is performing.

This allows you to make data-driven decisions and identify areas that need improvement.

6. Keep an eye on your cash flow.

Cash flow is critical for any business. It’s possible to be profitable and broke at the same time.

Create a three-month cash flow forecast and assign someone the responsibility of updating it daily. This person should notify you if they anticipate your cash flow dipping below a threshold you set at any point in the next three months.

Put your customers on a recurring billing plan wherever possible. This ensures a steady stream of revenue and reduces the risk of late payments.

Delegate managing accounts receivable and collections so that you don’t need to spend your time chasing payments.

7. Hire a second-in-command.

Finally, hire a general manager, president, or second-in-command to run your business on a day-to-day basis.

This person should have the skills and experience necessary to lead your team and make critical decisions.

By delegating responsibility to this person, you can take the role of executive leader focused on strategy and growth.

Developing a self-managing business is the solution to freeing up your time to live the life you want.

By implementing these steps, you can create a business that supports the lifestyle you want while continuing to grow and scale.

The key is to develop systems, delegate tasks, and hire the right people to help you achieve your goals.

If you’d like assistance building a business that runs smoothly, profitably, and (mostly) without you – a business coach can speed up the process.

Find out if business coaching is a good fit for you by booking 15 minutes on my calendar: Book a Call with John