Have you started a business as an entrepreneur? If so, chances are your business is quite dependent on you. That's not necessarily a bad thing: what you're doing now on a daily basis is probably what has brought you success. You've taken risks and done things to build something, and that's only a good thing. But if your business is too dependent on you, that can also have drawbacks. In this article, we provide some tips for entrepreneurs to make your business less dependent on you.
1: Know what you are working toward
If you don't know where you're going, you can never take the first step. So if you feel your business is too dependent on you, it's good to think about what your role should ultimately be. Do you want to make yourself completely redundant, play only an advisory role, or take the day-to-day management off your hands? Once you know what the end goal is, you can reason back to determine the first step.
2: Find your strengths and build a team
A good way to make your business less dependent on you as an entrepreneur is to determine where you add the most value. Then you will also find out where you could use some support. Keep doing what gives you the most energy, what you are best at and where you add the most value.
For other work, you build a team of appropriate managers and other employees. Here it is important that you give your employees trust and room to develop. You can also perfectly well outsource certain things externally, such as your IT, administration or corporate identity development.
Is your company too small for the time being to take on several employees? Then you can at least appoint a confidant who can take care of things for you if you are out of the running for a long time. That too is part of good entrepreneurship.
3: Automate where you can
The third and last of our tips for entrepreneurs: try to automate as much as possible. After all, that not only means that you don't spend any or less time on it, but also that you don't have to put employees on it. Far-reaching automation is mostly for relatively simple production processes, but there are options for every business.
Why less dependence is a good goal
If your business is too dependent on you, there are a number of disadvantages. The two biggest disadvantages we often encounter are about flexibility and the value of your business.
Because your own flexibility is soon compromised if your business is too dependent on you. This makes it difficult, for example, to go on vacation, make time for hobbies or do something other than work in other ways. This is not a problem for every business owner, but it is something to consider. For example, sometimes it is also unavoidable that you will be away from work for a while, and in that case it should be set up so that you have that flexibility.
Another adverse consequence of too much dependence is the impact it has on the value of your business. In situations when the valuation of your company is an issue, such as when you are selling or seeking investors, your role will be closely watched. The moment your company is too dependent on you, that is a risk for outside parties. Because if you decide to leave or drop out unexpectedly, that has a big impact on their investment. And for that risk they want to cover themselves, so you see that reflected in the valuation.
The conclusion of our tips for entrepreneurs: letting go is the secret
We can draw an important conclusion from these tips for entrepreneurs. When you have built a business from the ground up, you feel very connected to it. And as with children, it is then quite difficult to let go. Yet you will have to do that if you want to make your business less dependent on yourself. Letting go is a matter of trust, so make sure you surround yourself with people and parties who give you that trust. Then independence will come naturally.
You are not the first entrepreneur to face this challenge. Especially if you're looking for investors, it's interesting to take a critical look at your own role. In addition to these tips for entrepreneurs, would you like to know more about the impact of investors on your business? Then read our white paper!
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