I just finished John Warrillow’s business book, “Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You,” on the recommendation of a fellow entrepreneur. I’m always hunting for what will help scale my latest business, moving from steady growth (addition) to multiplication. Warrillow’s bestseller hit the nail on the head for me, despite its twelve-year-old release in 2011.
And while Startup Strong focuses primarily on startups, “Built to Sell” reminds us that every small business should revisit its purpose, products, process, and partners regularly. Each improvement leads to a profitable business and less stress for the owner in the end, whether you sell or scale up.
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The Storyline
While this is strictly a business book, drawn from Warrillow’s own experience, he provides readers with a step-by-step process for creating, modifying, or scaling a business that can thrive even when the owner is not present.
The author structures his book around a fictional story of a struggling agency owner, Alex Stapleton, who seeks mentorship from a successful entrepreneur: Ted Gordon. The narrative is a literary tool for engaging the reader while Warrillow presents his ideas and strategies for building and scaling a sellable business.
“Productize” Your Services
A central idea in the book is building a business around a product or service that can be sold as a stand-alone offering. Warrillow argues that many service-based businesses fail to reach their full potential because they are too reliant on the founder’s skills and expertise.
He recommends entrepreneurs find the single service they are great at delivering, focusing on standardizing, packaging, and selling as a unique entity. The approach cuts out all the fat of a generalized service business, focuses the team, and makes the offering a clear value proposition for customers (not to mention potential buyers!).
Streamline for Scale
Another key concept that stood out to me in the book is the importance of systemizing and standardizing your business process. From a playbook for delivering a single product, to a seamless management system, Warrillow goes all-in on streamlining a business.
He argues that a well-designed system is the only way to scale a business. By standardizing processes, documenting procedures, and creating clear roles, entrepreneurs can see their labor extend out from themselves, becoming something of actual value.
Other Lessons
The entire book is not focused only on the scale of a business. Warrillow also provides practical advice on how to build a strong management team, create a sales engine, and position the business for a successful sale. He offers tips on how to attract and retain top talent, how to create a compelling brand, and how to create a profitable pricing model.
I found the section on the actual sale of the business to be particularly insightful, as the ins and outs of utilizing a broker is a new world to me. But with Ted Gordon (ahem, John Warrillow) as a guide, I’m seeing the benefits of skilled negotiators that are well-connected in the world of business acquisitions.
My Conclusion
Overall, “Build to Sell” is a highly engaging, informative, and practical guide for entrepreneurs looking to create scalable and sellable businesses. While the fictional narrative may not appeal to all readers, the book’s content is well-organized, easily digestible, and highly actionable. A savvy business owner can read through the chapters in a weekend and have immediate action items to begin scaling the business of their dreams.
The friend who recommended this book brought me back to the “why” of building a small business. The goal is not simply to make a lot of money. The goal is to have options. If your business can thrive without your constant involvement on a micro level, you can decide what role you want to play in it. Should you keep running and growing the business for increased revenue? Could you install a new CEO and take a partnership position, continuing to profit from what you started while focusing on other pursuits? Should you sell to the highest bidder and walk away?
I know you’ll enjoy the provocative and challenging questions John Warrillow’s “Built to Sell” will bring up as you attempt scaling your own business to maximum profitability.
