Hi, I’m Brigitte Lyons, aka The Ops Whisperer.

There’s something I need you to know - something that is true for every agency or service-based business owner…

Building a business that can run without you is better for EVERYONE -- even if you never intend to sell or step away from yours.

When I founded my last company, my goal was to transition from a traditional agency model into a business that would be more compatible with my goal of full-time travel.

I knew I was going to be unreachable much of the time, with a shifting and unpredictable schedule, so I had to remove myself from day-to-day operations.

If I couldn’t be reached for hours (or days), the business needed to keep running.

Now that I’m on the other side of this process, it looks like the end result was inevitable.

But that’s the benefit of hindsight.

In reality, I had to shift the way I thought about leadership to get there.

In doing so, I built a company I ran working 20 hours a week, while traveling to national parks and off-grid locations.

Three years later, I was able to sell the business.

You may have zero interest in long-term travel. You don’t need to stop working with clients if that’s what you love.

But here’s the important part:

Designing your business so it can thrive without you makes it stronger, more resilient and creates room for growth and innovation.

You might think that my company stalled out while I was on the road.

Quite the opposite.

• The agency grew faster than any business I’d launched before

• I was able to give myself a raise

• My team members developed new offers for the company(including our most profitable service)

The goals you set out for yourself are possible.

So how do you get there?

The Ops Whisperer Framework

Most business owners spend more time making sure your team has the skills and know-how to get the job done than you do helping them understand why you do things the way you do.

This is why you're always being pulled back into tasks and projects you thought you'd successfully delegated.

It's the reason the team isn't taking on as much responsibility as you expected.

They need to be brought into your decision-making, not just trained on the job.

The Ops Whisperer Framework starts with the source -- YOU -- by making sure you get those considerations out of your head and into every level of your company's operations.

It's not only better for you.

I know you are worried about the effect stepping back will have on your clients.

After all, most of us develop companies that lean into a skill set that we excel in or a framework that's different from our competitors.

It can feel like you're the only person that can do the work up to the standard your clients expect.

This is partially true. No single person can duplicate the way you approach your work.

But a small group, all with their own unique strengths and skill sets and supported by systems that make delivery fail-proof?

A well-led business is stronger than even the strongest individual team member, including their leader.

And here’s the best part: None of this is any harder than what you’re doing now.

It’s just different.

Let this be the year you create a resilient business – starting with the Build Yourself Out of the Business Scorecard to find opportunities to create more freedom and independence in your company.

Each of the 10 questions represents a system or leadership framework that will help you get out of the daily grind of your business, freeing up your time to use however you’d like.

When you get your score, I also provide recommendations on how you can get started and an opportunity to meet with me to go over your results.

I hope you’ll use this quick tool, and take at least one step this year towards building an agency or service-business that practically runs itself.

You can also subscribe to receive new posts from me most weeks aimed at helping you build yourself out of the business, without sacrificing quality or client service.