How to Make Your Business Run Without You

Hey everyone, it’s Christina… from the past. 

That’s right, I’m writing this a few months in advance of publication. In case you didn't know, I am currently taking a bit of parental leave as I work on the next stage of life with my family. 

That’s a perfect segue into today’s topic: How to get your business to run without you. 

Let’s be clear. Many of us think through the lens of, “The only reason I would ever need to worry about that is if I want to have kids one day.” And while that is my personal reason for figuring out this topic, it’s super valuable for any and every business owner or leader. We should all be able to make sure our teams can run without us. 

Even if you never plan on growing a family, you may want to take a sabbatical or a two-month vacation. You may get an incredible opportunity to go develop yourself somewhere, but it would mean leaving things to run without you. I find that too many people don’t take these amazing, life-enriching opportunities (especially when you get into solopreneurship) because they don't learn the ins and outs of how to have a business to come back to, if you're going to take a break. 

So today’s topic is about how I’ve been learning this process for myself in hope that it will also help you on your leadership journey. 

Why Does Your Business Exist? 

Before you worry about how to make it self-sustaining, you have to go back to why it exists. What is the vision that you have for your business or your organization? 

This matters because the vision is what's going to inform the plan in a far more streamlined way. 

It's not just a matter of, “how do you come back from your leave and have a business to come back to?” It’s a matter of “what do you want the business to look like?” 

Taking time away is an amazing opportunity to really revisit and rediscover why you're still running the business that you run. Do you want to be working as many hours? Do you want to be taking on as many clients? Do you want to be self-managing and self-running as many projects as you currently do?

Looking at those day-to-day, weekly responsibilities, ask yourself: “What's going to make me want to come back?” For me, it’s because of the service that I provide to my clients and the way that my business moves a vision of the world that I really believe in.

Take some time and get crystal clear on your vision and purpose. I promise that as a result, coming up with the plan to make it happen will be so much more obvious.

What Does Your Team Look Like?

Consider the team that you have put in place to make your business or your team able to run without you. If you are within an organization, you could consider bringing someone in to replace yourself. If that’s not going to happen - either because of the funds or the way that your organization runs - train someone on your current team to step up while you step out.

Within a business, this is a perfect time to notice if you've been resisting building out that team and scaling in the first place. I tried to write a ton of blogs, pre-record a ton of videos, and create a lot of content ahead of time. It is completely possible. But it's a lot of work. And I can't actually verify whether the amount of stretch that it took is worth the payoff. 

Just look at the team that you’re building around your vision, so that what you have for your return is in alignment. I have a whole other blog that covers this topic: Being Indispensable vs. Invaluable.

As you're building out your team, take a lot of time to notice where you have made yourself indispensable. In other words, what are the parts of your business or your team that cannot run without you? It’s time to learn how to shift that up - before you leave. 

As an example, you may notice that no one else knows what services you offer, down to the price. Or no one else knows what events you have planned upon your return. It could even be as simple as no one else handles closing sales conversations, because you always take them upon yourself. 

Take an inventory of what things would naturally die off or fail if you left for three months, because no one else knows how to do them. If you’re not sure where to start with this exercise, go read that other blog because I talk about how to ask your team members to help you identify those areas. 

What Are Your Self-Sabotage Patterns?

One of my favorite things to do is help people get crystal clear on the self-sabotage patterns that they face. Before you can take off work, you need to get crystal clear on these self-sabotage patterns that are currently running your business - because believe it or not, when you take a break, those patterns and the consequences of them are going to become even more obvious upon your return. They will make your reintegration much harder. 

Even if you love what you've created, you’ll be coming back to the resentments or complaints that you have. I love what I do and I still sometimes have complaints about my coaching business. We all do. We're human beings. 

So if you really want to come back empowered, versus fearful of what you're going to find, get clear on the patterns that you've put in place and start to disrupt them. Change those self-sabotage patterns so you can fulfill this vision you've created and build the team that can make it all happen without you.

I hope you found today’s topic useful. See you next time.