How can the ‘4 Hour Work Week’ be applied to achieving a successful exit from your business?
The Tim Ferriss classic is a guide to escaping the traditional 9-5 in pursuit of your ideal lifestyle, while enjoying higher levels of freedom and efficiency.
Here’s my take on how the 4 Hour Work Week also translates into preparing your business for a successful exit.
1️⃣ Build a self-sustaining business model. One that leverages autonomous or ultra low-friction systems and automation. This allows you to remove yourself as a constraint and also increase the value of your business prior to an exit.
2️⃣ Create a 4-hour mindset. While you want to avoid any abdication of responsibility, be relentless about the pursuit of outsourcing and delegating. Always think about how to make yourself redundant in the medium to long term… unless you’re happy with a lifestyle business and never want to exit.
3️⃣ Embrace the work-life balance. Not just to increasingly remove yourself as a single point of failure, but to prepare yourself for the next chapter in life, beyond your exit. Having more time away from the business can be spent on the groundwork for whatever comes next.
4️⃣ Learn and reinvent. A business that continually innovates and adapts to market trends will not only thrive, but make it a much more desirable acquisition target.
The principles of the 4 Hour Work Week aren’t just about personal benefits. Most of it can also be applied to your journey towards a successful exit…