Kirsty Dunphey wrote a blog asking the question, Is Your Business a Business or Just a Well-Paying Job? In it, she gives several examples of people who make a very good income out of their business, but whose business income is dependent on them personally providing the service the business offers. She raises the questions:
“Do you have a business or a job? Do you want to start your own business or create a job for yourself? Is what you’ve built saleable? Does it work for you whether you spend the day in bed in your PJs or you’re out in the field?”
The problem starts with the owner’s mindset. I’ve met many owners of small businesses whose sales have leveled off and the number of employees in the business are the number they can manage directly. When you ask them why, they say that they just can’t find good people. What they mean is that they can’t find people who will do it as well as them or the way they would do it.
Buyers are looking for a business to buy, not a job like the one described above. If you own a business that you want to sell, and realize that you really have a job, how do you turn it into a business? I would recommend you start by reading “The E-Myth Revisited”. This book is all about this particular problem. If you want to know more, go to their website, http://e-myth.com.
One of the major points that this book makes is that the small business owner needs to create systems for employees to follow so they know what to do. This is what franchises do. Create a complete system to follow so the product or service the company is selling is the same no matter what employee is doing the work. The quality of the product or service is not dependent on the skills of the employee delivering it.
Another thing that the business owner needs to do is “let go” and recognize that others will not do things as well as he, or she, might, but the business will run much better, grow, and make more money. If the owner can delegate, it will become a business, not a job. And, become a business that someone will want to buy.
