Anybody who has started a business knows very well how much work goes into it. If you’re the one who has taken the corporation or business from vision to execution and established it into a prosperous entity that is seeing growth year to year, there is a natural fear that comes when you know that you’re going to have to eventually step down from leadership and pass the mantle on to somebody else.
As an entrepreneur, you might want to start considering what the next step is once one business has taken off. At the same time, there is much to be done before responsibility can switch hands and you can feel confindant that the company you worked so hard for will continue to prosper even after you’re gone. Stepping down is healthy as well as inevitable.
If you want to enjoy the harvest of your labor, you have to let go of the labor at some point. However, if you’re worried that your business might not survive once you’re gone, here are tips for keeping your business growing even after you’ve stepped down:
Practice Grooming
Grooming is a very common practice within the business world. It doesn’t mean everybody stands around and picks at each other like monkeys in a social circle, it means that you as the boss find somebody who displays the characteristics you know would make a good leader and you spend the time and investment grooming them to take on the company responsibilities for you.
If you’re good at this and you allow enough time for your protege to learn the ropes of the business, you’ll be able to step down fully knowing the you’ve placed your company within the hands of a capable person who will continue to move things on the up and up.
Spread Responsibility
As a leader with a vision, it’s tempting to build your company like a ladder. This means that you’re at the top of the ladder and everybody else is beneath you, on lower rungs. You handle all the aspects of business and nothing gets done without your approval. While this is natural for business, especially when you’re the CEO, it’s actually better to build your business like a web.
A web shares responsibility and workload. It can also hold a lot more weight. This way, if you’re ever to leave, the responsibility has been shared and the business can continue to run effectively, even if you’re not there to micro manage. As long as you’ve been good at sharing responsibility and training your employees to do things the right way and you have people in control whom you trust, this will go well for the company even after you leave.