The Counterintuitive Path to Building a Valuable Business
Most founders build their business like they’re planning to run it forever. They make decisions based on what works today, what feels comfortable, what keeps them in control. But here’s the thing: building a truly valuable business requires the opposite approach.
Think of it like designing a house. You wouldn’t start by picking out curtains and paint colors. You’d start with the foundation, the structure, the systems that make it livable long after you’re gone. That’s exactly how you should build a business you might want to sell someday.
I’ve noticed something interesting about successful founders in the recruiting industry: they don’t just build businesses, they build machines that can run without them. From day one, they’re thinking about how to make themselves unnecessary.
The foundation isn’t sexy. It’s clean books, solid processes, and systems that don’t require tribal knowledge to operate. It’s choosing the unsexy recurring revenue over the dopamine hit of big one-time deals. It’s saying no to clients who want to be your everything, even when the money’s good.
But here’s where it gets interesting: the best team members don’t want to join your personal fiefdom. They want to be part of something bigger, something that could grow beyond you. That’s why smart founders share equity generously and hire people who could potentially replace them.
The irony? Building a business like you’ll sell it tomorrow actually creates a better business today. Your processes are cleaner. Your team is stronger. Your client base is more diverse. You’re not the bottleneck.
And that’s the beautiful paradox: by building a business you could sell, you create one you might want to keep forever. But unlike the founder who builds to keep, you’ll always have options.
Remember: The best businesses aren’t built on heroic founders doing everything. They’re built on systems, teams, and processes that work without heroes at all.