Are you a Ronald or an Elton?

Transcript

Malcolm Palmer (00:00.)
Hi, I’m Malcolm Palmer. You are listening to the Making Your Business Less Dependent On You podcast sponsored by A4G Chartered Accountants and Durbin Offshoring. In this podcast, you will learn how to assess where you sit on what I call the Ronald Elton scale and whether that’s the right place for you. Before we get started, I wanted to take a moment to briefly mention our two sponsors.

A4G are an accountancy practice based in Kent near Brands Hatch with 30 years of uninterrupted growth. We specialise in helping business owners deal with all the challenges of growth. Durban Offshoring recruit high quality professional desk -based staff in any profession in Durban, South Africa for UK businesses. So, the day -to -day reality for most people running small businesses

is that they spend more of their time working in the business rather than on the business. I mean, when you started your business, the service you provided was excellent. You had enough hours in the day to ensure all customers were dealt with personally. You built up a good reputation with your clients. Your work was to a high standard. And as a result, you kept getting new customers. So you took on new staff.

Your bookkeeper or accountant looked after the payroll and made it sound as if that was all you needed to worry about. But ever since you took on those staff, things have not been quite as good. Service standards have slipped. You’re now spending a lot more time doing admin. And when you’re not doing admin, it feels like you’re spending your time putting right things that your new staff have got wrong. Customers don’t seem as happy anymore.

and you feel like your hard earned reputation is slipping. The solution is often to start working on your business, not in it. But that’s a bit of a cliche, isn’t it? What do you need to do? Well, what you start doing is you start putting together systems, identifying roles, recruiting and training people. Or is that the solution? Because actually, you’re at a crossroads.

Malcolm Palmer (02:27.995)
there is more than one direction you can go. The first thing to consider is whether you are a Ronald or an Elton. Okay, bear with me on this. I do know the history of the McDonald’s brothers, Ray Kroc and all that. Let’s imagine that it was Ronald who started the whole thing. After years of flipping burgers and entertaining the kids, Ronald has now stepped back from the front line.

and trained up others to wear the flipper -like shoes and red nose. He’s sconceed at the top of McDonald’s Tower in a smart designer suit with his bright red hair receding a bit and carrying a heavy hint of grey. He now works on strategy, marketing, recruitment and systems, or what we call the Big Four. He’s built a franchise that can be replicated all over the world, where once he did everything, now his influence goes unseen.

He’s in the background, tweaking, working with his board to build their skills with shares and options worth millions. OK, back to the reality of small business world. On a smaller and more realistic scale, Ronald, the owner manager, has stopped looking for a mini version of himself to share the load. He came to the conclusion that the mini me he was looking for doesn’t exist. Instead, he’s been applying real attention to detail.

the internal systems of his business. He’s also managed to step back from the front line. The business no longer depends on him. Holidays are more frequent. And now that it’s no longer dependent on him, the business is now much more sellable. A potential buyer, a much bigger company from a connected industry, who wants to get into a new market, has been sniffing around. A lucrative sale followed by either a comfortable retirement or new

It’s an image that appeals to many business owners and maybe you, especially bearing in mind that you’re listening to this podcast. It usually appeals to those who have enough money in the bank but not enough time to enjoy it. Or maybe those who just feel stressed or anxious about their day -to -day lives. If the appeal of working on your business and not in it is strong, then you want to be a runner.

Malcolm Palmer (04:54.363)
But only a small percentage of those who head off on that journey make it. Many are pulled back in far too easily by the smallest problem. In The Godfather 3, Michael Corleone thinks he has finally met the promise to his wife, two movies earlier, to escape criminality. But his attempts to set up a legitimate business are sabotaged by his underworld contacts. I won’t try and do the accent.

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. You ever felt like that? Of course you have. If the business is too dependent on you. You make some progress, then something happens, and you’re drawn back in to sort it out. But sometimes the they is not a they, but a you. It’s difficult to admit that a significant proportion of your business’s success…

is very much driven by your personality and skills. And that’s not the end of the world. As long as your business model accepts that. Before you head down the path to Ronaldom, I’m not even sure if that’s a word, but if not, it is now, ask yourself what you want. Do you have the skills to make the changes to your business that will make your business completely independent of you?

Are you prepared to invest the time and money required to make those changes? Does that approach even work in your industry? Has anyone else made it work? Maybe you could be the first, or maybe not. Because Ronalds aren’t the only financial success story out there. Take Elton John. He’s one of the most financially successful people in the UK. And the one thing he hasn’t done…

is train up lots of little Elton Johns to go around the country performing Goodbye Yellowbrook Road every Saturday night. And that’s because he’s the star performer. He’s the one they want. Is that like you? Are you the star performer? Are you the one who does the things that earns the business the money? Would the business be able to operate without your talents? If it can’t operate without your talents,

Malcolm Palmer (07:19.195)
then you’re an Elton. And that means you need a different business model to those of the Ronalds. Say that again. And that means you need a business model which is very different to those of a Ronald. The key for Elton’s is to rid themselves of the tasks that someone else can do. Get a PA, a good accountant, bookkeeper, an all -round marketing specialist.

Download a really good dictation app so you can dictate letters and instructions. Delegate everything but the things that no one else but you can do. Use the skills and expertise you have to deliver a quality which is better than your competitors. Then make sure you charge for your services accordingly. Remember, there’s only one of you. So you better be focused.

on earning as much as you can for each day that you work. Now some Elton’s forget the last bit, but it’s absolutely crucial because when you can no longer do what you do, there will be no business to sell. Because the business is you. Now, unless you are the real Elton John and are likely to be receiving royalties,

you’re going to have to squirrel away enough of what you earn to build an investment fund that you can live off when you retire. And if that works for you, then that’s great. But you’re probably listening to the wrong podcast though. Because this one is for aspiring Ronalds.