It’s easy to point to market shifts, big players, or new tech as the threat.
But truthfully? That’s not what kills most businesses.
Dependency on the founder is what does it.
No One Talks About It—But the Numbers Are Brutal:
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70% of business owners have no exit strategy.
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Only 20–30% of small businesses actually sell when they go to market.
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Most collapse or get deeply discounted because they’re built around the founder.
It’s Not That the Business Is Bad. It’s That It’s Not Transferable.
If you’re still the only one who knows:
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How to close that deal
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Where the files are
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What to do when [insert chaos here] happens…
…then you don’t have a business. You have a risk.
Here’s Where You Start to De-Risk:
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Identify the top 3 things that rely on you personally.
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Train someone else to lead one of them this quarter.
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Build systems where others can step in—without guessing.
This isn’t about replacing you.
It’s about building something that can outlast you.
You’ve kept the wheels turning for years. But your real legacy?
It’s not in how hard you worked—it’s in what still stands when you’re no longer in the driver’s seat.