Make Your Business Run Without You

He may be known in the UK for his Michelin star-rated restaurants, but Gordon Ramsay is better known the world over for being the confrontational and brash host on the television shows “Hell’s Kitchen,” and “Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.” Those shows are just two of the business interests controlled by Gordon Ramsay Holdings, of which Ramsay owns a 69 percent stake valued at £55 million. A successful entrepreneur, Ramsay has come along way from his time as a boy who dreamed of nothing but football.

When asked to give his advice for entrepreneurs, Ramsay said:

Running your own business is scary. That’s where you get the adrenaline from. It’s not like going to work for a boss every day: you are the boss and you have to maintain standards. That’s an amazing challenge not once a week or once a month but each and every day that business is open.

It’s been a process over the period of a decade. However, for me the secret is to make sure the business is running to perfection, with or without me. That’s a challenge. You need to master that, and make sure there are no discrepancies, with or without you being there. But it’s a tough card to play. 

When you can make the business run without your presence, you effectively create the freedom that most entrepreneurs never achieve. You no longer have to come to work to make it operate successfully and you can choose the kind of work that you do put in. Here are three tips to make your business run on autopilot.

Delegate

I’ve discussed delegation in depth recently. If you want your business to run without you, it will need someone to operate it in your place. Most entrepreneurs have a hard time giving up responsibilities and fall into the habit of doing everything themselves. Begin delegating early by identifying the simple tasks that can easily be outsourced. As you gain more confidence in your staff, assign more important functions. Eventually you want to be able to turn over the entire day-to-day operations so you need to start small and start soon!

Consider Franchising

If you have big dreams for your business, it will likely be difficult to step out of the day to day operations unless you consider alternative growth strategies like franchising. You will still be responsible for the success of the franchises and running head office but it will allow for a more rapid expansion of your business and less time investment on your side then if you tried to open new locations yourself.
Leverage Technology

Not all problems are solved by throwing more people at them. I first try to look at what can be automated through technology before bringing someone new on. If it can be automated then it will likely cost you less and ensure greater efficiency than hiring someone to do the same tasks. Computers are also less prone to errors, don’t take vacation time and you don’t have to give them salary increases or sick days off!

Evan Carmichael.

Matthew Toren

Matthew Toren is an Award Winning Author, Serial Entrepreneur, and Investor. He Co-Founded YoungEntrepreneur.com along with his brother Adam. Matthew is co-author of the newly released book:Small Business, Big Vision: “Lessons on How to Dominate Your Market from Self-Made Entrepreneurs Who Did it Right” and also co-author of Kidpreneurs.