How to Build a Business that Runs Without You: Part 1

My first business was a 2800 square-foot bookstore in Sacramento, California. I had quit my Silicon Valley job to open the store and about six weeks after the Open sign was lit, I thought I had made a big mistake. I hated running a retail business. I resented the hours involved, the demands on my time, and dealing with all of the other headaches that come with owning a retail business.

I also had other goals. I wanted to write books and get the message out there that there could be life after corporate America. And so I decided to structure the business in a way that didn’t require me to physically be there. Here are the steps I took:

1. I hired staff and trained the heck out of them. Customer service was numero uno!

2. I created a comprehensive operations manual and documented everything from how to issue a refund to what to do during a power outage.

3. I trained the staff to check the manual BEFORE calling me.

4. The business still needed to be built so I spent time on marketing efforts, but I managed most of them from my home office.

5. I spent less and less time at the store until eventually I showed up just once each week to deal with cash and paychecks.

These efforts worked so well that I was able to launch this website (BusinessInfoGuide.com) and write several business books, all while my business ran without me. And the business grew as a result. I was able to sell the store several years later and move on to a business that better suited what I wanted to do with my life.

After selling the store, I found myself running a freelance marketing business, and it wasn’t long before I burned out on that. Read part two of this series where I’ll fill you in on how I built my current business, which essentially runs without me and leaves me lots of time for creative endeavors!