Here’s how to build a business that runs itself.
You don’t need perfect systems, endless standard operating procedures (SOPs), or any of the dozens of business operations systems.
You need something far simpler and easier to start implementing today.
“I don’t want to be the bottleneck.”
Yesterday we had our weekly group call for the Value Engine Protocol, the program I created to help 7-figure ecom owners double their businesses while removing themselves from 80% of day-to-day operations.
One of the Partners said, “I don’t want to be the bottleneck.”
He’s jumped in and out of doing Amazon PPC for years. As the CEO with little high-level operational support, every small and big issue comes back to him.
Then another Partner chimed in and said she, too, is frustrated because she can’t do everything she wants to grow the business because she’s too busy managing it.
How we built a $50M+ company that runs itself
Before I partnered with Charles to scale Lifeboost, a $200K-per-year brand at the time, he had two key employees working part-time on the business. One helped with marketing, the other with customer service.
Both started with zero ecommerce experience before working with Charles. Over the years, he trained and supported both of them.
Today, those two basically run Lifeboost. One manages almost all of marketing, other than some of the paid ads and funnels I work on, and the other manages all customer service, logistics, and technical oversight.
Charles, the CEO, is free to develop products and think longer term about the business.
I focus on scaling sales within narrow arrows, primarily our paid acquisition funnels.
How to get free
If you had more time, you could grow your company faster.
You don’t get more with systems and SOPs; that’s just more stuff you have to manage.
You also don’t get more time by adding a bunch of low-level employees that you have to spend hours per day managing and communicating with.
You get more time, A LOT more time, by hiring your #2 or #3 top-level employees.
Those people can manage lower-skilled employees.
And they cost less than you think at first.
Start by identifying anyone on your team, regardless of their current role, that you think has the potential for greater responsibility. Then, gradually, start allowing them to take on higher-level tasks.
Over time, you’ll identify who has the aptitude for more responsibility.
Ron Vachris, the current CEO of $440 billion Costco Wholesale Corp, started as a part-time forklift driver for the company.
Some people are capable of far more than you can imagine right now. It’s your job to nurture those people so that eventually they run the business for you.
If you don’t have anyone in your company yet, start adding people. Start with hiring for limited responsibility or lower-skilled tasks, unless you want to pay six-figure salaries plus bonuses to “proven” executives with, in my experience, no greater likelihood of working out than someone you train from the ground up.
How to stay free
The biggest mistake founders make when hiring someone, especially for a higher-level task, is that as soon as that person is in place, they take a big sigh of relief, then disappear.
A couple of months later, they check on progress and are shocked to see that the business is sliding backward.
Frustrated, they scramble to fix that area of the business. This usually results in the person they hired getting fired and them back where they started.
To prevent this, think of it like how surgeons are trained.
First, they read books.
Next, they get to perform mock surgeries on dolls and cadavers.
Next, they get to observe surgeries performed by experienced surgeons.
Next, they perform small parts of live surgeries.
Only then, after years of preparation, are they set free to perform full surgeries on humans. Even then, they receive extensive oversight from other surgeons to ensure they don’t mess things up.
When you hire someone, your workload for that role doesn’t decrease much immediately. You need to support that person, check in on them frequently, ask them questions, and make sure they do a good job.
Slowly, however, you release the reins and let them work more autonomously.
Little by little, you give them more freedom, assuming they’re producing the results you want every step of the way.
Eventually, you’ll be completely free of that role, possibly including running your entire business, while you serve only to check in periodically on overall results.
Systems don’t create freedom; replacement does.
—Matt
P.S. If you own a 7-figure ecommerce business and want to double your business while removing yourself from day-to-day operations, watch this.