Knowing the difference can help you sell your business for a premium one day
Too often business owners/CEOs confuse their team working hard with their team working smart. One is motion, the other is progress. And motion isn’t what will excite an acquirer one day to pay a premium for your business, but progress will.
Leadership teams that let the business manage them are what we refer to as playing whack-a-mole. Their day is comprised of playing defense, which is whacking at each problem or opportunity as it pops up, but not having enough time to play offense which is working on making things more strategic and better.
Effective leaders are those, that despite having to deal with daily challenges and opportunities that arise unexpectedly, still know the value of having a strategic plan that will guide them in knowing which areas of their company they need to focus on in order to make progress. And having a plan that you’re working too won’t eliminate days of whack-a-mole, but it will add more days of thinking and acting strategically which is where you’ll be building the value, or net worth, of your business.
Ask yourself, is my business managing me or am I managing it? And if it’s the former, think about stepping back and developing a more strategic pathway for your business. Doing so won’t eliminate whack-a-mole, but it will help reduce it and will give you the confidence that you’re building a business that will excite an acquirer to make you euphoric with the sale of your business one day.