More Success for Entrepreneurs

Work on Your Business, Not in Your Business – The Foundation for Successful Entrepreneurship

Part 1: Work ON the Business, Not IN It

Introduction:

This e-book is designed to help you better recognize which tasks are truly entrepreneurial tasks and which are not. It will help you see how to make your business grow, how to get more free time, more quality of life, and more peace of mind in your day-to-day entrepreneurial activities. This book is suitable for any type of entrepreneur and business.

To make the most of the lessons, I’ll give you additional top book recommendations in this eBook so you can deepen your knowledge. You’ll also learn from my own experiences of over 20 years in entrepreneurship—and from my mistakes. Fortunately, I made them very early on, when the stakes were only in the six figures rather than the seven.

A Brief Note About Me:

My name is Stephan Landsiedel. I’m the owner and founder of multiple companies. At 18, I registered my first business. Several companies in different fields followed. I hold a degree in psychology and am the author of numerous books and audiobooks. I’ve been a trainer in communication and personal development for over 20 years.

What started as a one-person business has evolved into a company with numerous employees, seven-figure revenue, more than 25 locations in Germany, and another company in Switzerland. As a trainer, father, and entrepreneur, my aim is to live out top performance with energy and passion every day, in an authentic way. With over 2,500 days of seminars under my belt, I’m one of the most experienced trainers in Germany. My trainer team includes more than 30 trainers.

Wishing you much success in achieving your personal freedom,

Why Did You Become an Entrepreneur?

When I ask my seminar participants this question, they often say they wanted more freedom, that they wanted to take personal responsibility for their success and create their own income.

Some also say they simply couldn’t tolerate their boss any longer.

Recently, I’m hearing more and more that they wanted to improve the world and people’s lives with their products and services. I think that’s fantastic! Entrepreneurs are people who actively shape things. Some do so on a smaller scale; others, like Elon Musk (PayPal, Tesla, Space X) or Larry Page and Sergey Brin (both Google), do so on a larger scale.

It’s rare to find an entrepreneur who says they had no other choice—because they had to take over a family business or were forced into it by other circumstances.

What was it that drove you to become an entrepreneur? How important are aspects like security and freedom to you?

Let’s start by taking a quick look at the ways there actually are to generate income.

“I work on the principle that you should never do anything yourself that someone else can do for you.”

J.D. Rockefeller
American Industrialist and Philanthropist

The Income Fields:

For employees, security aspects are very important. They want a clear employment contract with a guaranteed income. That way, they can sleep well at night knowing they’ll get paid at the end of the month. So they prioritize security over freedom. Many follow the path they were raised to follow: “Child, get good grades so you can land a great job.” That’s how we’re programmed for this particular income field. A fixed income enables us to go into debt, take out loans, and then we’re trapped, dependent on the job whether we enjoy it or not.

Self-employed people are those who want to do their own thing. They don’t want a boss telling them what to do. They often work long and hard. They want to be independent of others when it comes to earning money, deciding for themselves how much they earn. They work passionately and strive for independence. Delegation is often difficult for the self-employed because no one can do the work as well as they can. So, they do it themselves. Sometimes their business grows, but they must keep everything under control. Thus, their business can only grow to a certain size, and they remain fully tied up in it, having to stay on top of everything.

Both employees and self-employed individuals must invest their own time to earn money. That’s their limitation.

Business owners/Entrepreneurs have a business idea and develop a system to implement it. Then they surround themselves with others who help build the business. They delegate and outsource everything that others can do better. They don’t work “in” the company, but “on” the company. Their specialty is managing people. While others handle accounting, production, and sales, they focus on new business ideas or enjoying their free time. Building a business system is hard work, but after it’s in place, it continues running without them. Compared to employees, entrepreneurs work for their property (the company), whereas employees work for money to acquire property.

Investors make money with money. They let their own or other people’s money work for them and are always on the lookout for new opportunities to invest profitably. This is where the truly wealthy reside. This field is where money turns into wealth.

That said, this field has its own set of rules, and many successful business owners who sold their company have lost everything as investors if they didn’t develop their financial intelligence first.

These four income fields go back to Robert T. Kiyosaki and his book “Cashflow Quadrant.” He is also the author of the bestseller “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” which is highly recommended.

I’d like to add a fifth option to this list: The Solopreneur. I owe this addition to the books “Solopreneur” and “Smart Business Concepts” by Brigitte and Ehrenfried Conta Gromberg—two fantastic books as well.

Solopreneurs are a modern blend of entrepreneur and self-employed person. Typically, they work alone or with a very small team. However, they’ve cleverly delegated many tasks externally so they can focus on the most important ones. This style of running a business only became feasible through technological development. Nowadays, small companies can tap into the services of large companies and thus appear professional on the market right from the start. A key phrase here is “founding with components,” popularized by Professor Günter Faltin in his book “Brains versus Capital.”

The Main Reason Behind the Unfree Entrepreneur

Now that you understand these categories, it’s easier to see the number-one reason some entrepreneurs never have free time or are stuck in their company from morning until night. Many people consider themselves entrepreneurs but are actually closer to self-employed because they just can’t let go of tasks.

An entrepreneur builds good systems that other people can operate. If they’ve built the system well, it can operate without them. That’s one of the tasks of an entrepreneur. In the extreme, this is like a franchise system, e.g., McDonald’s.

Think about where you stand in relation to these five income types. It’s entirely possible that you operate in multiple fields.

Often, based on our mindset and talents, we’re better suited to one field than another. For people who really dislike risk, well… what then? Is it truly less risky to be an employee? It’s a matter of perspective. What’s certain is that with the last three income types, you have a far greater chance of becoming wealthy after a few years, especially on the right side of the quadrant.

How a Business Gets Started

Let’s look at how a small business usually starts:

A skilled professional has an “entrepreneurial seizure” and becomes self-employed. They take their technician/worker mindset along with them—not the mindset of an entrepreneur. Suddenly, there are all sorts of new topics: marketing, PR, law, finance, contracts, etc. By investing long hours from 7 am to 10 pm, they manage it all by becoming not just the skilled professional but also the manager and entrepreneur. They succeed. The business grows. The first employees are hired—often the wrong ones due to a lack of experience. You, the founder, start to work slightly less. New tasks pop up, like employee reviews. Suddenly, the first customers leave because they used to be served personally. In no time at all, there are so many balls in the air to juggle. The employees are replaced, but it still doesn’t work. The entrepreneur jumps back in themselves, even though that shouldn’t be necessary. Now a system is needed.

Perhaps you can relate. You started with an idea, excited to do something, you made big plans and wanted to make your mark, but now you’re spending long hours in the office writing proposals that get no response. Let me give you a tip that will lead you to more freedom: Notice the difference between a technician/worker, a manager, and an entrepreneur! And hand off all tasks that are not entrepreneurial tasks to your managers and skilled workers.

It’s not your job to write proposals or ad copy. You’re the entrepreneur.

Nobody has highlighted the distinction between skilled worker, manager, and entrepreneur as clearly and in such depth as Michael E. Gerber in his work “The E-Myth Revisited”—required reading for every entrepreneur. There’s also a great German audiobook version.

Skilled Worker – Manager – Entrepreneur

In our initial example, the entrepreneur had to work a lot. He or she didn’t just handle the entrepreneurial tasks but also those of a skilled worker and manager—three jobs rolled into one!

But what is the difference among skilled worker, manager, and entrepreneur?

The Skilled Worker

The skilled worker carries out the tasks that arise. They’re the doer. “If you want something done right, do it yourself” is their credo. They do whatever needs doing, and they love it when it’s done. They live in the present moment, preferring to work on just one thing at a time.

The Manager

Without managers, there would be no planning, no order, and no predictability. The manager lives in the past. While the entrepreneur is already far ahead in the future, the manager is trailing behind, trying to bring order to the chaos.

They check reports and conduct employee evaluations to see what could be improved. The manager steers the business. They look for optimal workflows in the company’s processes.

The Entrepreneur

The entrepreneur is the visionary, the dreamer with foresight. They transform everyday events into extraordinary opportunities. They are the driving force behind every human activity and the catalyst for change.

Early on, the self-employed person takes on each of these roles. Later, it’s important not to get stuck solely in the skilled worker or manager roles.

The transition from skilled worker to entrepreneur happens by consistently working “on” the business rather than “in” the business and seeking permanent solutions to recurring problems.

Case Study: Suppose you run a retail shop. Saturday brings the biggest rush of customers you’ve ever had, but your saleswoman is unavailable because she has to take care of her children. What do you do?

As a Skilled Worker, you’ll step in and do the work yourself.

As a Manager, you’ll find out why she can’t come in and maybe try to motivate her with extra pay.

As an Entrepreneur, you’ll think about how to fix this situation for the long term, e.g., with a standby system.

Solving the Problem

If you want to gain entrepreneurial freedom, you should always keep your roles in mind. Realize that you, as the entrepreneur, also have a working day, and that it involves different tasks than those of your skilled workers.

It’s not your job to sort files, write proposals, or compile reports. You’re there to find solutions and build an automated system. If you want others to work for you, you must learn to delegate.

Which is more important to you, time or money?

If time is more important, then try to hand over as much as possible. Which tasks can you delegate? For what recurring problems can you create a system that solves them automatically? Which tasks can you outsource?

Before you die, you won’t regret not having spent more days at the office, but you will regret not spending more time with your loved ones.

You want the freedom of an entrepreneur? Then build a good system that ideally runs without you. The perfect scenario would be if you’re absent for a while and upon your return, the company runs better than before. This would mean that your employees and managers not only kept everything going but also worked on growing the business. Do you think that’s likely in your current setup?

Many people are afraid to relinquish control over tasks, fearing they’ll lose the ability to control quality or that they can do it faster than anyone else can.

That may be true initially, but it doesn’t help. If you don’t change, you’ll always have to invest your own time. It’s better to devise systems that optimally support your employees in delivering the desired results.

Tip: Write a manual or record a video demonstrating how to accomplish the task so every employee can easily understand it.

Give your employees the necessary tools to learn the new task. For every task you plan to hand off, create a manual or thoroughly show your employees how you handle it.

Check whether they’ve really learned it. If your company is bigger, then others might take care of that step. But in the beginning, it’s up to you to develop the processes and build the business.

The First Step

Let’s summarize: To free up your own time, you should first and foremost want that freedom. Then, by delegating and outsourcing tasks, you can gain more time and freedom. Combine this with effective time management, and you’ll suddenly have plenty of free time to continue working on your business. As you can see, taking the “first step” in the right direction is crucial. This important step can’t be overstated. Take tomorrow morning off and start thinking about how your business system should look. Give yourself plenty of time and plan it as precisely as possible so you can issue clear directives.

As a small business or startup, you typically won’t be able to spend 100% of your working hours exclusively on entrepreneurial tasks. Depending on the number and qualification of your employees, you’ll also have to handle skilled worker and manager tasks.

To strengthen your entrepreneurial focus, make sure you dedicate enough time each day to your entrepreneurial responsibilities. It’s a big challenge, but it’s absolutely necessary.

Build your own entrepreneurship system. May this information be useful in doing so.