8 ways to know if you have a job or own a business
The ultimate test of your business can be found in a simple question: would someone want to buy your company?
Whether you want to sell next year or a decade from now, you must be building an asset someone would buy – otherwise, you have a job, not a business.
Here are eight ways to ensure you are building a company, not just doing a job:
- A job requires that you show up at work to make money, whereas a company generates revenue whether you are there or not.
- If your company is so reliant on a single customer that they can dictate how you deliver your product or service, your company is more like a job than a valuable business.
- A job is a place where your personal reputation impacts your results, whereas a company is a place where the brand is more important than the personality of the founder(s).
- A job requires you to use your personal experience and expertise to get a result, whereas a company is a place where a process – not a person – consistently produces a desirable result.
- In a job, you get fired for taking too much vacation, whereas if you own a company, the more vacation you can take without impacting your company’s performance, the more valuable your business will be.
- In a job, the harder you work, the more money you earn. In a company, the smarter you work, the more money you earn.
- In a job, you solve the problems. If you own a company, your employees solve the problems.
- If the majority of your customers know your mobile phone number, it’s likely you have a job, not a company.
If you’re not sure whether you have a job or own a business, it’s time to get your Value Builder Score. Whether you want to sell now or in a decade, the Value Builder Score assessment allows you to see your business as a buyer would see it, and to identify how you perform on each of the eight key drivers of company value.
