You’ve been in the driving seat of your business for several years and you’re starting to ask questions about the future. Whether you’ve got plans to scale up or sell, you want to make sure your company reaches its maximum value for prospective investors or buyers. While there are benefits to being heavily involved in your business in its early stages, as you scale it needs to be able to run smoothly when you’re not there. You’ll need to put systems in place to ensure your business has value without you as the main point of control.
If your business can’t function without you, it’s less valuable.
Investors and buyers will see your company as high risk if the operations and strategy rely on your input. If unexpected circumstances crop up and you’re away or ill for an extended period, things will struggle to carry on as normal, operations will be impacted and, in the worst-case scenario, your business could grind to a halt.
Similarly, if all processes and decisions have to go through the funnel of one figurehead, the ability to scale is very limited. Growth could take twice as long and your business will be a less attractive prospect to investors and buyers.
Delegation goes a long way to ensuring your business has value without you.
In the first couple of years of establishing your business, you’ll be hands-on with the operations, overseeing the marketing and sales efforts and managing the finance function. You’ll have the advantage of always knowing what’s going on, and you won’t have to worry about making high-level strategic decisions to ensure progression.
But as your business scales, strategic decisions will become increasingly important and could be neglected if you’re dedicating most of your time to sales. You’ll increasingly find yourself running into holdups as all of the big decisions have to go through you.
Delegate responsibilities and increase your firm’s value by:
- Training existing team members to take on management roles. You’ll have more time to spend on what’s important when you’re not having to oversee each department.
- Developing a senior leadership team. They’ll help you make strategic decisions and ensure you’ve always got a trusted, right-hand person.
- Outsourcing your finance function to an outstanding accountant. You’ll offload the financial admin and have an expert sounding board for the big decisions.
Lean into your strengths and evaluate how to harness your team members’ skill sets to yield the greatest benefit. By developing a framework of skilled key figures within your business, you’ll ensure your business has value without you.
Automate processes to run without you.
From smart software to AI, business owners have access to a wealth of technology that can automate otherwise time-consuming processes. You’ll have more time to dedicate to the strategic side of your business.
Your business’s finance function can significantly benefit from adopting automated systems. Setting up your business on digital accounting software like Xero means processes which would otherwise take hours on a spreadsheet can be automated in just a few clicks. What’s more, using the Dext app to automatically capture and organise expense data can eliminate the need for manually trawling through receipts.If you’re a retail or e-commerce business, consider how you can incorporate systems that literally make your business money while you sleep. 24-hour shopping cart and sales integrations on your website will ensure orders can be processed overnight without you being involved.
A handful of easy-to-implement steps guarantee your business has value without you.
At One Accounting we’ve transitioned hundreds of companies from being owner-reliant to prospering without them. We deep-dive into your business, applying our financial and strategic expertise to:
- Automate your systems.
- Help you delegate responsibilities and free up your time.
- Offload your finance function to our team of qualified accountants.
- Provide strategic guidance, acting as your sounding board for the big decisions.
We don’t just make sure your business stands on its own two feet without you; we make sure it thrives. Get started by filling in our form.
