How to Remove Yourself as Owner of the Business
Hey there entrepreneurs,
Welcome to the Better Business Brief, where I share takeaways from:
- running businesses I’m building to sell for millions
- My advisory with other business owners building to sell for millions
- tips and tricks you can use to do the same
In under 6 months, we grew our air duct cleaning company from a little over $150,000 per month to just under $350,000 per month.
Net profit percentage about doubled...
So today, in less than 5 minutes, I’ll give you:
🔧 The 12-step blueprint we used to make it happen
⏱️ What to stop doing first to get 30 - 40 hours back
📊 The accountability + SOP combo that makes it stick
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This shift didn’t happen because we worked harder.
It happened because we removed the owner bottleneck, installed leaders, and built systems that run without us.
MOVE 1: Step out of the bottleneck |
If you’re doing $100k–$200k a month in your business, odds are the business still depends on you, at least to an extent.
You have to shift from operator to strategist..
Audit your time for one week and make a “stop doing first” list.
Example: In a granite countertop shop we advised, the owner (Ana) was selling, scheduling, pricing, and overseeing installs.
We added an admin to own scheduling, front desk, and QuickBooks catch-up. Then we hired a closer to run in-home assessments and estimates.
These two hires and the systems they now own freed 40-50 hours of her week and increased total sales capacity.
What you stop doing first:
- Scheduling and lead follow-up → move to an admin or appointment setter
- In-home estimates → move to a trained closer (ideally with industry experience)
- Ad hoc financial tracking → move to a consistent bookkeeping rhythm
MOVE 2: Build a leadership engine |
Separate Sales and Production so neither starves the other.
Give each a clear leader.. then aim for a GM/DOO/COO above both to keep the flywheel balanced.
Departmentalize in two ways:
- By service line (e.g., Residential vs Commercial) with clean P&Ls so you know where margin lives.
- By function (Sales vs Production) so selling never stops and jobs always get delivered.
Decision rights matter: pre-approve micro-budgets and micro-decision-rights so leaders can move more quickly.
As an example, our BD manager has up to $200 per event for trade shows and lunch-and-learns.
She informs us about spend, but doesn’t need pre-approval each time.
Speed goes up. Owner interruptions go down.
MOVE 3: Turn chaos into systems that survive weekends |
Daily accountability → then SOPs → then oversight.
Have the team start using Daily Reports: Simple Google Forms for each key role.
Inputs include today’s outputs, pipeline health, issues, and notes for their manager.
If reports stop, we address it.
This reduces micromanagement because the signal is built in.
SOPs: Document how the job gets done.
Start imperfect.
Iterate monthly.
Pair every SOP with an accountability mechanism (a metric, a checklist submission, or a manager review) so it actually gets followed.
Example: Ana made a pricing sheet to standardize estimates.
Final approvals still rolled to her at first.
Next step is promoting a lead to do those approvals or hiring one, removing her as the last stop.
THE 12 STEPS in Order of Action
- Name your core problem: owner bottleneck.
- Shift your identity: operator → strategist.
- Audit your time for 7 days. Write everything down.
- Decide what to stop doing first (scheduling, estimates, bookkeeping are common).
- Decide what to do instead: partnerships, marketing efficiency, goal setting, leader development.
- Departmentalize by service line and by function.
- Install leaders for Sales and Production; target a GM/DOO/COO above them.
- Set decision rights (what they can do without you and the thresholds).
- Install daily accountability (simple forms beat fancy dashboards early on).
- Write SOPs to remove key-person risk (including you).
- Choose your owner mode: piggy bank for cash today or growth vehicle for scale tomorrow.
- Embrace your new job: systems engineer. Every system = SOP + the person + an accountability check.
Final Note:
The things that got you to $150k a month won’t get you to $350k…
If your goal is a sellable business that can run without you, start with time back, then leaders, then systems.
Do those three in that order and you’ll feel the business loosen its grip on your calendar while margins improve.
If you want to hear me discuss this exact thing in video form, more in depth, watch it here: https://youtu.be/0VUOdV8MMDQ
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Happy value-building to you!
See you next time for Better Business Brief,
-Brody
