It was 1998, and I was sitting in a large boardroom with my new colleagues.

We’d recently sold the business, and this was the boardroom of our acquirers, my new bosses.

I thought it would be like any other day with meetings, things to do, and the day-to-day stuff.

But this collection of people sat there was very different from the norm.

Usually, these meetings were reserved for the senior heads of departments, but not today.

Robin, our CEO, addressed the eleven of us and explained why we were assembled.

The plan was to sell the company, and the CEO outlined how that would happen by hitting specific profit targets through a few key projects.

They were clear, measurable, and assigned to who, what and when.

I didn’t have a day job from that day on, just these projects.

We became a business inside the business, ring-fenced to deliver these projects.

The eleven of us were sort of separated from any day-to-day responsibility, hence not being the heads of departments. The heads kept the day-to-day of the business running. We focused on the projects to optimise the company to sell it.

But the key here is NOT the selling of the business but the fact the company ran without us.

You may be thinking yes, Martin, but that was a significant business, we are only small, so how can that happen with us?

But you would be wrong that this ONLY happens in large companies. ANY company can create the environment to achieve this level.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve explained the process of Foundations and Execution. The reason for that is that it naturally leads to this level of Optimisation.

Robin had spent time with his senior heads on the Foundation Level, working out what they wanted (an exit) and what the numbers needed to be to get there.

Still, at the Foundation Level, the team identified the exact projects needed to achieve the gap in the numbers from where they were, to where they wanted to get to.

Then at the Execution Level, they made sure all the day-to-day was taken care of. The right people were doing the right things, the sales and marketing machine delivering the revenue, and the delivery of the products and services managed through processes and checklists to ensure quality and continuity.

Once all that was accomplished, all the business needed to achieve was Optimisation.

Because then, as an owner, you can focus on moving small things to make significant impacts.

That’s why Masterminds, Coaching and Mentoring really work, as it starts the process of thinking about Optimisation of the business and NOT working in the day-to-day.

Martin Norbury

Investor | Business Mentor at Advocate | Author of I don’t work Fridays

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