Why Is This Important?
It’s all about getting yourself out of the engine room so you can focus on your clients!
Higher revenue: CEOs who excel at delegation drive 33 % more revenue than those who don’t.
Lower burnout: Three-quarters of entrepreneurs say the day-to-day grind is hurting their mental health.
Faster scale: Only 22 % of service businesses succeed at scaling; the rest stall because the owner stays the bottleneck.
Every hour you spend reconciling bank feeds or chasing signatures is an hour not spent piloting the rocket.
Your 7 Step Exit Plan:
Follow this sequence (adjust as your people allow) and you’ll loosen the “owner-operator” shackles one link at a time:
Step 1 – Admin
Typically, the 1st step firm owners withdraw from. They hand off calendars, billing runs, and basic IT tickets to a junior admin or virtual assistant – tends to be cheaper, allows for early wins in the Foundations layer.
Step 2 – Quality & Training
Let a senior admin own client surveys, SOP updates, training, and quality control; keeps the Foundations tight.
Step 3 – Production
Transfer bookkeeping and compliance “grind” to staff accountants, outsourced teams and reviewers, that frees you from the Engine Room of your firm! (Easier to replace compared to senior client managers)
Step 4 – Finance & Reporting
Many owners prefer managing this step to maintain control over financial information. However, if you’re comfortable delegating financial tasks, you can withdraw from this step earlier.
Step 5 – Sales
Senior client managers take discovery calls and follow-ups; you supervise big deals while relinquishing control over time.
Step 6 – Marketing
A growth manager or agency executes campaigns once the rest of the steps are completed and when you’re ready for growth!
Step 7 – Board of Directors
At last, you “live” here: monthly strategy meetings, dividend cheques, and looking into the future plans from a strategic level.
How To Make Sure Your Exits Stick?
Document before you delegate. Record a Loom walk-through, drop it in the SOP vault, and your new hire lands with a map.
Delegate outcomes, not steps. “Keep client NPS ≥ 70” sparks autonomy; micromanaging the ‘how’ clips wings.
Run a 30-60-90 ramp. Week 1 learn, week 4 assist, day 60 own with oversight, day 90 fly solo.
Use a one-page scorecard. Review top KPIs for each division in a monthly “Board” meeting – now you’re the pilot, not the mechanic.
Common Points To Troubleshoot:
“No one can do it as well as I can.” — Start with low-risk admin tasks; watch the sky remain intact.
“Training takes too long.” — It does… once. Record it, reuse forever.
“Sequence doesn’t matter.” — Skip steps and chaos scales faster than revenue.
“Clients will miss me.” — Co-host two transition calls, then stay visible as Strategic Advisor, not Super-Reviewer.
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