Step 8 of the Entrepreneurial Freedom System – Free Yourself From Operations

Letting go.

Necessary Endings by Dr Henry Cloud talks about things coming to an end. He refers to pruning. For a rose bush to flourish, it needs to be pruned. Otherwise, it cannot provide all of the necessary resources to the right parts of the bush. Less is more when we are looking to truly let go of the day-to-day within our business.

As I write this section of the book, I have just replied to a client who has been with me for 10 years. My accounting firm CTA Profit First Accountants has watched him start out as a sole trader with a side hustle, to an established limited company that is looking to break new ground in its industry and seek significant amounts of investment. I have personally saved him thousands in tax and coached his wife on how to manage their cashflow properly, relieving the stress that comes with paying your staff, the VAT and corporation tax.

Why am I sharing this?

He told me that he wants to move to a new accountant. He suggested that part of the reason is that I as the owner am not personally managing his accounts any more. In reality, I haven’t been doing this for the last 6 years!

He is not the first client who has left because my involvement in the business has evolved over the years. It happened after the first 5 years. I knew I wanted to build a business that COULD run without me so that I could take a month off in Florida for example, IF I WANT TO. This clear intention at the very start means I built a strong team and strong systems as early as possible in my business journey.

When a few clients left around year 5, I had an emotional reaction. A scarcity mindset kicks in, you feel that there are not as many opportunities available to you, and that someone else is claiming what is yours. After a lot of thought, I realised that this is part of the business growth and more importantly my personal evolution.

I am a huge fan of the 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch, originally known as the Pareto Rule. Most of you have more than likely heard of it, if you haven’t, please read the book ASAP. If you have heard of it but have not read the book, read it now too! Some things in business and life matter more than others. The 80/20 Principle says that the relationship between effort and results is not linear. Some things we do in our businesses or lives have a far bigger impact than others. I would argue that one of the personal activities will be to exercise daily for at least 30 minutes. In a business context, it is often argued that 20% of tour top customers can generate 80% of your profits or revenues. The point here is not to get too scientific and stuff with the numbers, it’s the thought process that counts. If 20% of the activities you do in your business week in and week out, provide 80% of the outcomes, imagine if you could spend 40% of your time on them to generate 160% of the results! The concept is literally a game-changer if there ever was one. It is also argued that 20% of your team members, get 80% of the work done! Some sources say this is more like 10% versus 50%. Have you ever lost an average or under-performing team member, only to find that the rest of the team copes just fine? Albeit without the full-time salary! This is the 80/20 Principle in action.

The reason I digressed into the 80/20 Principle was that we as entrepreneurs need to look for that 20% of activities that really make a difference and move the needle. I am not ‘happy’ to lose such a long-standing client, yet I accept that this is the price to pay my personal and ultimately business growth. This is not to say that he is not an important client, of course, he is. It’s just that we can’t have the tail wagging the dog.

We need to start with the vision of our business, if you truly WANT A BUSINESS THAT CAN RUN WITHOUT YOU and will need to let go of many things along the way.

If you want to learn more about building a business that runs without you, reach out to me personally via stephen@cheltenhamtaxaccountants.co.uk