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View Full Version : how to get your business to "autopilot"



rezzy
02-21-2009, 07:03 PM
This is really for me, but I am interested in what public opinion on what it takes to get your business to the point where you dont need to do anything for it to happen.

I believe I speak for most people when I say I want to reach a point where my business can maintain itself. Where I can sit in my office, over see projects and rest assured everything is going smoothly.

What is the general time span this takes? What steps need to be done? How do you secure your business from greedy people looking to take advantage?

vangogh
02-21-2009, 08:00 PM
I don't think you're business will ever be on autopilot. At the very least you always have to be keeping an eye on it and making sure it stays on course.

However you can do things to take yourself out of the day to day operations of your business. Take your web design services. Instead of you marketing things, conversing with clients, designing and developing their sites, you could hire people to take care of each part of the process, which would leave you managing all of them instead of doing the work. You could then hire a project manager taking you one more level out of the business.

In other businesses you might automate parts of the process or outsource the work to other companies. Little by little you can take yourself away from the actual work your business does, but you still have to watch over it. Employees and machines will never care as much about the business as you will so you'll always need to make sure their doing the job you want them to do.

The time span depends on you. Before you can start hiring you'll need to have enough clients to justify the hiring, unless of course you have the capital to operate at a temporary loss. The steps are hiring others or automating what you can when it makes sense to. And you secure the business as best you can by always being attentive to it.

Steve B
02-21-2009, 10:00 PM
The time frame depends on too many things to answer. The key to reaching the goal you are speaking of will be hiring the right people, having a very effective training program, and clear procedures that can easily be taught to others.

Dan Furman
02-21-2009, 10:13 PM
This is the whole e-myth thing. And I think it's really that - a myth.

I know many entrepreneurs. Most, if not all, don't just oversee projects and have things run smooth. Most of them work pretty hard, and have tons of direct, day to day input, regardless of how successful they become, or how big their companies are.

I honestly think the "autopilot" goal is the wrong attitude/goal to have, as it implies resentment for what you are doing now. You may as well have a job then (the benefits and retirement are better). In fact, I think an easier way to achieve autopilot is to get a state-type job and retire after 30 years with 3/4 pay. To me, entrepreneurs should love to work, should love what they do, and don't see slowing down as an option. If you don't love what you do, and don't like working everyday, why would you work for yourself? Having a job is soooo much easier.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but that's how I see it.

vangogh
02-21-2009, 10:20 PM
Dan I'm with you on this. I do what I do because I love doing it. If tomorrow I won the lottery I'd still be doing doing the same thing. Granted it might take on a different form, but I would still be design and development websites and then marketing them.

However I do think for some people the love is the business part, in which case the e-myth idea makes sense. I also don't think there's anything wrong with things like outsourcing and hiring out and taking yourself out of the day to day to some degree. For example maybe one day I would have a staff of employees and I'd pick and choose the projects I wanted to be involved in.

But yeah, I do enjoy what I do and have no desire to take myself out of it.

Dan Furman
02-21-2009, 10:32 PM
Dan I'm with you on this. I do what I do because I love doing it. If tomorrow I won the lottery I'd still be doing doing the same thing. Granted it might take on a different form, but I would still be design and development websites and then marketing them.

I say almost this exact same thing - if I won the lottery, I'd still do some kind of business / marketing writing, because I really enjoy doing it. I doubt I'd do it exactly like I do now, but I'm sure I would still do it.



However I do think for some people the love is the business part, in which case the e-myth idea makes sense. I also don't think there's anything wrong with things like outsourcing and hiring out and taking yourself out of the day to day to some degree. For example maybe one day I would have a staff of employees and I'd pick and choose the projects I wanted to be involved in.


agreed. But with the caveat that they enjoy the ride to that point. Because if they really love the business part, and don't like the day to day work, I can't see spending years doing the day to day work to get to the outsource point. Again, this is my opinion - doesn't mean it's right for everyone. :)

I dunno - I never did something I didn't like doing. I'm just not wired that way. When a job got to where I didn't like it, I'd quit or pick a fight and get fired. Life is too short to not like doing what you are doing for a living.

Blessed
02-21-2009, 10:42 PM
I don't think my business will ever run on auto-pilot.

I'm a graphic designer, I love what I do... when I quit loving what I do I'll quit doing it and my business will die. Of course that is because I don't ever see Crazy Dog Creative becoming a business with employees - it might, you never know what course life will take and I'm still young (33) so who knows what the future holds? At this point I see my business only growing as much as I want it to and only taking on as much work as I am able to get done by myself.

billbenson
02-21-2009, 10:50 PM
I really have two jobs. Web designer (for my sites, not other people) and salesman. I enjoy the web and marketing stuff, however I hate the type of sales I do (web generates sales or leads; spend 12 hours a day trapped to a desk and computer with sales activities). I'm pretty stuck as the product I sell is quite technical, so I couldn't easily farm out the sales activities.

My plan is to write some affiliate web sites. Something I never have done. You can't do them and just walk away, but I wouldn't be trapped to my desk 12 hours a day if I was successful with that. Some people make quite a bit of money doing affiliate sites.

Bottom line, I don't think any of us who have posted so far have the type of business that allows for much time off without dramatically changing the business. There are business models that do allow for that though.

Dan Furman
02-21-2009, 11:00 PM
Bottom line, I don't think any of us who have posted so far have the type of business that allows for much time off without dramatically changing the business. There are business models that do allow for that though.

Good point. Mine really doesn't, and I further impede that by making the business more about "me" than writing.

Although a nice income for little to no work would be nice, for a year or so anyway :)

vangogh
02-22-2009, 02:01 AM
But with the caveat that they enjoy the ride to that point. Because if they really love the business part, and don't like the day to day work, I can't see spending years doing the day to day work to get to the outsource point.

True. I suppose this type of person starts off by either hiring someone or partnering with them to take care of the day to day.


There are business models that do allow for that though.

Bill you hit on a good point I was going to mention, but I didn't think it was quite what Bryan was asking in his original question. You could work to set up passive streams of income. You'd still have to work to set them up and since they may not last you'd still be working on the business, setting up new revenue streams or working on existing ones to improve them. However you could take time away from all of them and still be making money.

A simple example would be in two different types of affiliate sales. Typically you think affiliate sales in the sense that you direct someone to the sale and you collect some money. But in order to get paid again you need to continue making sales. However some affiliate programs will give you a recurring income if their product or service is recurring (hosting, memberships). In that case you could in time stop working and still be collecting money for the sales you've made previously, though again there's no guarantee the recurring payments will last forever.

There are some appealing aspects of being able to take yourself out of your business and still make money. Think retirement. Though until that time comes I'd rather be working on something. Even if I had all the money in the world, if I had nothing to do all day I think I'd get bored in a hurry. I like the feeling of being productive and feeling like I contributed something to the world.

orion_joel
02-22-2009, 06:42 AM
Interesting topic, rezzy, this is something that i have been working on finding for some time. Although i am no where near as yet that is mostly because i have not put in the amount of time i should have.

The way i see things, at least from my point of view is that i don't want to be hands on in the day to day running of a business. But i want to be hands on in controlling the direction of a number of businesses. Whether it be one business or 5 businesses, my enjoyment comes from owning and operating the business, knowing where it is going what it is doing, and driving it forward.

While i have no problem with doing the day to day things, in a business this is where i get bored, doing the same or similar things each and every day. Inevitably this is why i have left most of the jobs that i have had, because they are repetitive. But the other thing that gets me in most cases is that my mind is working on the concept of comparing what i am doing and earning to what that is generating for someone else. now 5 out of 7 times i may not be able to replicate the business myself, but so often when you think about how little many employers appreciate their staff, i would prefer to not be doing it.

However back to the topic. It may be similar day in and day out guiding and operating one or more companies, but the thing that gets me in the train of thought of wanting that is that i am doing it for me and the people that i will employee, and not for some big corporate black hole.

greenoak
02-22-2009, 08:15 AM
its definitely not a matter of time...most businesses never get to any kind of good financial point..lots of people work like dogs on bad ideas ...etc etc
but if you do get a good thing going, even then ...
im not sure what kind of business could run well without the owner...not warren buffets, not mine..and we are sure in different parts and at differrent levels of the business world... ..when im gone it will need another dedicated owner to keep it on the right track...
i want to be right there wilth my business...i wouldnt want to miss the mundane parts.... the emyth just doesnt do it for me....in old age i hope i get to still do it...
a little vacation is ok....but not working or being in an office with all my money isnt my goal..
now a a great manager or great employees within the business would be/is wonderful...but im not planning to hand over the whole thing and take it easy...even if that were possible.......
my business stays spicy, its an adventure......so i never get bored with it...it really changes all the time with the market the styles etc etc... i guess if your goal were a franchise it would be different.......ann

huggytree
02-22-2009, 08:45 AM
even if you get your business to auto pilot that doesnt mean it will stay that way.

my old boss had 4 employees at one time...he sat in the office all day and just handled the bidding....id say he worked 2-3 hours a day 4 days a week.....not auto pilot, but pretty close...

how he's got no employees and is a 1 man shop....he's 57 and digs his own ditches

dont plan on things staying the same...if you go to auto pilot will you remember or know enough to take things back over if you need to someday?

rezzy
02-22-2009, 10:24 AM
I thought this we create an interesting dialogue. And I was right, although I would like to evenutally have a "staff" and which could help completing projects, I too am no where near this point.

The goal of autopilot is more for when I am close to the "retiring age" and I could enjoy the income and drop by the office to check up on things.

I have quite a few years to go before I am even thinking about retirement.

vangogh
02-22-2009, 11:42 AM
While i have no problem with doing the day to day things, in a business this is where i get bored, doing the same or similar things each and every day.

Joel even if you're managing several businesses instead of working in one, you'll still be doing the same things every day. They'll just be different things. There are certainly some things that allow you more variety in what you do, but even then a part of it is always the same day in day out.

That's what Dan and I were both talking about enjoying what we do and not wanting to take ourselves out of the business. We both found things that we genuinely enjoy and speaking for myself and what I know about Dan we both tried doing quite a lot of different things before eventually finding what we enjoyed.

Where I would take myself out of the equation to a degree, though not the business, is to set up passive income streams. That way revenue isn't tied directly to hours worked, freeing me up to do things I enjoy most.


even if you get your business to auto pilot that doesnt mean it will stay that way

Absolutely. I don't think you ever take yourself completely out of the business. Otherwise you may turn around one day to discover the business is no longer there.

tuitionsource
02-22-2009, 12:00 PM
I would think that what you get out of the business would depend on what you want out of it. It's the aforementioned E Myth thing. I have had several businesses that were basically self employment. I worked 12-16 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 2 years on each of them. I loved the business but couldn't keep the pace up.

Now, when I do develop a business, I do look at ways to automate parts of the business and ways to vend out other parts of the business. I am not at the level I want to be at yet, but the plan is in place.

My businesses are all part of a larger plan to diversify so the economy or one negative episode doesn't leave me ruined. My rentals are pretty much on auto pilot but I do keep an eye on the books. This leaves me time to develop other areas of business. Once I have success there I will automate it as much as possible and move on. If I can't automate it, then I will sell it.

The overall plan is to not become a slave to my businesses but to have my businesses serve me. However, I do believe I will always be involved in the business in some way, too many dishonest people in the world. :)

vangogh
02-22-2009, 12:07 PM
And that's a perfectly acceptable way to run a business or several businesses. I think a lot of this discussion comes down to the individual and what that person wants out of their day to day and out of their business. I happen to enjoy what I do and can't see myself not doing it. But that doesn't mean I won't at some point outsource some of the work or automate parts of the process.

I don't see myself hiring directly since that puts me more in a management role, which I is not something I really enjoy.

My long term goals are more to create some passive income streams and develop products that scale beyond revenue being directly proportional to time spent.

billbenson
02-22-2009, 12:54 PM
Do you farm out any of your design work VG... programming, logos, copy writing?

vangogh
02-22-2009, 01:17 PM
Not really. On occasion I might have someone help with one aspect of a project if I'm pressed for time, but even then I'll likely make changes and check the work they do. For the most part I do all the work for my business. I also think most of my clients are hiring me specifically and want me to be the one working on their sites.

orion_joel
02-22-2009, 10:50 PM
you'll still be doing the same things every day. They'll just be different things.

This is true they will be same or similar things, but they are the things that i enjoy doing. I love looking at the figures, finding trends, really working with the numbers. What i hate though is getting stuck in one place, for example when i worked in retail i hated the fact that i needed to spend a majority of my day in the one area of the store, assisting customers in that area. Where i work now the majority of my shift i am stuck needing to be in the one room ensuring the smooth flow of work.

What i love about the thought of running multiple businesses myself is that i can choose where my time is dedicated each day and what doing, (with maybe the exception of a big problem occurring). I could choose to go and help or further train staff in one of my businesses, i could grab all the paperwork that needs to be gone over and go to the coffee shop. It would be my choice what and where i am, i don't want to create a business and step away entirely but i don't want to be chained to being in the same place every day. (This is where my interest in my No Fixed Office Blog comes from).

I also don't believe in a passive income, at one point i did but the more that i see things and think about them, passive incomes, do require a good amount of maintenance, not always a lot but, a blog requires new content, a content site, even if it is loaded with content requires a keen eye to ensure the visitors are coming, the search engines are ranking your pages ect. Even offline, money in the bank is not a guaranteed continual passive income, i have lost over $3,000 in income from the money in the bank this year because the interest rate in australia has been cut by over 3 % in the last 6 months.

vangogh
02-23-2009, 01:17 AM
Makes sense Joel. The things you would do to manage several businesses are more your passion that working in any of the businesses themselves. Dan and I come from the opposite side in that we feel passionate about the actual work. I shouldn't speak for Dan, but I have a hunch he'll agree with that as well as saying we both also have a passion for making the whole business work. A part of why I enjoy what I do is that I do so many different things. Many people don't like wearing all the different hats you have to wear to run a business, but I love it. One of my main passions is learning new things and it seems there's an endless supply of things to learn working with technology and running a business.

With the passive income I think it depends on how you're generating the passive income. Yes you always have to keep an eye on it. Things can change that would need your attention, but to me the basic idea is not to tie your revenue directly to your time. That's really how all service based businesses work. If you take a two week vacation you make no money those two weeks. On the other hand if you have a product for sale you could take two weeks off and still have those two weeks be your biggest in terms of revenue for the entire year.

I don't know if you ever have 100% passive income, but you can do a lot towards moving to the more passive side. Even with a website you don't necessarily have to keep adding content. You could create 20 or 30 pages that pretty much says everything you need to about a subject and leave it alone. Even if that site only pulls in $50/month you're still not having to work on it beyond the initial content.

trackday
03-11-2009, 10:42 PM
It took me several years because I was learning how to run the business as I went, even with a business degree, etc. Probably at the 5 year mark I was giving major responsibilities to others, but at around the 12 year mark I finally had a solid team of managers/supervisors that would allow me to really relax, read daily reports, etc.

To me, if you are doing the production work yourself, you still have just a job.

My business is in manufacturing, we make cabinet doors, just the doors, but the basics of business management are similar across a wide spectrum. I could do what I have done before, but now 10x faster now with the experience under my belt.

vangogh
03-11-2009, 11:32 PM
You do get closer to autopilot by giving responsibilities to others. I still don't think you ever get to 100% autopilot since you always have to make sure the machine is still running.

Congrats on being able to get to that place trackday. And welcome to the forum by the way.


if you are doing the production work yourself, you still have just a job.

That's an interesting quote. I agree with you, but at the same time I couldn't imagine myself not doing the production work I do. I simply enjoy it and it's why I do what I do. To me it's about scaling my business. I may always be designing and developing websites, but I work towards being able to increase how much I can make per each hour of work I do and even better setting up systems that still generate revenue regardless of my having to put hours in.

Still I think I'll always be designing and developing sites in some way more by choice than need.