The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

E-Myth Revisited... Revisited, and 4-Hour working week

Kung Fu Steve

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
283%
Jul 8, 2008
2,718
7,698
Road Warrior
For the business owners out there I would like to revisit the concept of creating a systematic business. Applying the principals of the 4HWW and E-Myth, or any other resources that can help free us owners from our self-made prisons.

Now when I say prison, I refer to the aspect of our businesses that "require" us.

I know for myself, there are just too many things to do and not enough hours in the day. I currently have 1 full time employee and 5 part-time employees. And then of course I am there every day full time as well.

My goal within this next year is to completely remove the need for me to be here so I can follow other goals such as traveling and my public speaking career.

Any ideas are appreciated, we talk about a lot of concepts, but does anyone have some actual action steps?

:smx19:
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Smooth

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
2%
Mar 20, 2010
105
2
I think trying to remove yourself from your business is a tough decision to make -- do not make it lightly. Be sure you have people on staff that have been with you for a while and know your operations in and out. Removing yourself from the equation also improves the value proposition to outside investors when you are ready to sell, to show them that the business does not need you to succeed. But you also need to think about how your employees will feel about this -- giving them more responsibility so you can relax while they continue to work...?
 

Kung Fu Steve

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
283%
Jul 8, 2008
2,718
7,698
Road Warrior
I agree. I can assure you that none of my business, goal, or personal decisions are poorly thought out.

The goal is not to leave my employees high and dry, but to provide them the opportunity to grow this community without me as a bottleneck.

I have other larger goals to pursue as well. This business was not well thought out in the beginning. It revolves all around me, my personality, my drive, my ambition, and my charisma. (Surprising right? :groove:) My struggle is finding ways to pull myself away more. I'm assuming the best route would be to really drill down my style and systemize it so people could learn how *I* do things that they could follow.

How do I change the community from me centralized to us?
 

Gymjunkie

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
50%
Jun 17, 2009
1,833
910
35
Are you teaching your workers about the biz and stuff? I mean the more you teach them and make some "course" for each of them the better. You'd be sure of what they know.

Outsource some of the things in your daily business if you can or haven't already ;)

Start franchising maybe? :)
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Russ H

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
21%
Jul 25, 2007
6,471
1,363
62
Napa Valley, CA
1. Hire people that want to own their own Dojos.

2. Train them to be owners.

Tell them you will train them to be owners/think like owners/learn what owners do-- AFTER they become proficient at being teachers/whatever else you need them to do.

Then, make them managers once they're ready.

3. THEN, offer them your first franchises.

Process:

1. Hire
2. Train.
3. Sell them franchise
4. Repeat

Do this a few times, and then hire a trainer who will do the training for you (or, promote one of your managers to do this)

-Russ H.
 

GoldenEggs

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
12%
Sep 4, 2007
320
38
Silicon Valley, CA
A friend of mine had a program similar to the one that Russ laid out. He required the people that wanted to be in the Instructor program to not only be proficient in the martial art but in computer skills as well. I know he had very few students who were in the program as it was very intense but I do not know about the results.

When I used to dance, I had aspirations of taking dance lessons from the owner. You HAD to be a proficient dancer to study with her because she could no longer show you how to do the moves. This way, she was able to focus on students that had promise and on her terms.

Can your employees run the business for a day without you? At one of my jobs, my boss had each employee create a manual/handbook for their position. The intention was that should the employee be out sick, all one would have to do is pick up the manual and be able to the job step by step.
 

rod_lleyton

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
21%
Jul 16, 2010
19
4
38
Australia/New Zealand
I've done this with my businesses, and it's not easy.

As Smooth mentioned, the people who work for you are key. You've got to have:

1. Training for the managers so they have the skills to replace you;
2. Adequate incentives to perform and also to treat the business as theirs (for me, I offered a small amount of equity as well as normal "salary");
3. Compulsory involvement - meaning the managers need to have skin in the business;
3. Trade secrets. I think this is the most important. You've got to have something integral to the business that you keep to yourself, so that they will never be in a position to replace you (which is why Russ's franchise idea is a good one). This could be in the form of suppliers, relationships, exclusive contracts, methods, etc (sort of like the "Coca Cola" formula, or "Google's search engine algorithm"). Sure, it means your business won't be truly "passive", but it sure beats someone setting up shop in direct competition to cut off your income streams (or worse, destroy what you've built and worked so hard for).
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

Latest Posts

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top