A remote control CEO is a business owner who has made or wants to make the transition from hands-on to hands-free, lives a flexible lifestyle, and has structured their business so it works for them rather than them working for the business. This is one of the most common scenarios in which you might consider hiring a licensed professional business coach that can help you start a second act business, sell or buy your business, create a plan of succession, and help you structure your life and business on your own terms.
Question: Does Your business Run Itself?
If not, then your business is dependent on your energy, drive and enthusiasm to make things happen. For your business to run without being dependent on you, then you, your staff and the business must become more effective. To become more effective, you have to make a transition from being ‘Hands On’ (at the center of everything) to creating the structure so you can operate the business as if by remote control.
Wait, before you leave because this sounds a little too trite and simplistic let me tell you why you should continue reading. It was a strategic mistake that lead me to stumble upon a distinction—that by increasing the ‘effectiveness’ of myself, staff and the business—any business owner could make huge gains!
For me, I did not know I had become complacent, and complacency can kill your business. It kills your drive, decreases your energy, and makes your mind numb to the obvious. If you have been in business for any reasonable length of time you know the feeling, an overall sense of anxiety and concern about the business.
I often hear business owners state that they feel burnt out, tired, fed up, and frustrated. It can include concerns about profitability, making the next payroll, staff performance, or customer satisfaction. You are not a quitter, so you suck it up and tell yourself that, if you work a little harder, things will improve. Too often, this type of thinking with trap you on an endless treadmill. Car engines can work really hard while the wheels keep spinning in place.
Profitability, human resources, and lack of free time. These are issues that I hear business owners scream HELP ME! on a regular basis. The reason their business does not operate without them being there is because they did not take the right actions. They are stuck in the center of the business.
Every business book, seminar, and consultant will tell you that you have to make a transition from working ‘IN’ the business and start spending more time working ‘ON’ the business – except they do not tell you how to do it! To enjoy the benefits of operating your business by remote control, you need to make the transition from being ‘hands on’ to ‘hands free’. Perhaps your goals are to:
- Raise the bar on overall company performance.
- Make more money.
- Pursue a new business opportunity.
- Concentrate on the systematization of your business.
- Prepare your business for sale.
- Buy a business.
- Improve some aspect of the business.
- Transition your business for future generations.
To achieve these goals it’s all about, taking the right action, at the right time for the right reasons i.e. replacing yourself with systems, processes, staff training, and leadership (to name a few). That way you will no longer at the center of everything and are able to operate your business ‘hands free’.