Building a Sellable Business Through Processes With John Warrillow

John Warrillow

John Warrillow is the Founder and President of The Value Builder System™, which offers an assessment tool to help business owners build value. He is also the Founder of VidGuide, a software that allows business owners to document SOPs using video. As an entrepreneur, author, and speaker, John hosts the Built To Sell Radio podcast and is the author of Built to Sell.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[2:22] John Warrillow’s catalyst for writing Built to Sell
[3:59] How to build a business independent of its founder
[9:14] Advice for creating value in your business
[17:25] The importance of documenting processes to determine your company's identity
[22:15] How processes increase company value
[26:35] John talks about VidGuide’s process documentation software

In this episode:

Many businesses operate using the hub-and-spoke model, which relies on the founder to direct every company process. However, the operations fall apart when the owner needs to step away from the business. How can you separate yourself from your business?

According to business value builder John Warrillow, entrepreneurs are too focused on growing revenue and don’t consider the company’s end goal. Founders should consistently work toward their eventual exit by building value and slowly offboarding themselves. This requires identifying your company’s purpose and documenting systems and processes that promote that purpose. Well-documented systems increase value to potential buyers by relying on employees to execute operations rather than the founder.

In the latest episode of Systems Simplified, John Warrillow, the Founder and President of The Value Builder System™, joins Adi Klevit to discuss building business value for an eventual exit. John shares how systems documentation increases company value, VidGuide’s video process documentation software, and how to determine your company’s identity.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments:

"The more valuable companies do one thing better than everybody else, and that gives employees reps like repetitions on nailing that one service or product."
"Recurring revenue can be one of the secret sauces for making your business much more valuable to an acquirer."
"Hub-and-spoke is a business that's dependent on the owner. If the hub goes down, the business essentially fails."
"It's not that people want the processes for their own sake. What they want is a business that can thrive without the owner."
"Getting the founder to articulate the founder's story can inherently convey the core values and ethos of the company."

Action Steps:

Focus on doing less: Concentrate on mastering one core product or service instead of spreading your efforts across multiple offerings. This approach strengthens your market position by honing expertise, simplifying processes, reducing dependency on the owner, and enhancing business value.
Develop recurring revenue streams: Create subscription or contract-based offerings to ensure stable, predictable income over time. This strategy builds a sustainable business without the owner’s constant presence, making the company more attractive to potential acquirers.
Reduce owner dependency: Implement systems and processes that allow the business to operate independently of the owner’s daily involvement. Addressing the “hub-and-spoke” issue ensures that the company can thrive without the owner, which is a critical factor for increasing its saleability and overall value.
Document and communicate brand identity: Clearly define and share the company’s brand identity and core values with employees and stakeholders. By doing so, you preserve the essence of your business, ensuring continuity and alignment even when the founder is not actively involved, which is crucial in a remote work environment.
Utilize video guides for knowledge transfer: Encourage the use of video documentation for processes and procedures as a practical alternative to traditional written SOPs. This method is particularly effective for non-linear thinkers and ensures that essential knowledge is captured and can be easily transferred to new employees, thereby maintaining operational continuity.

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