Back to Your Questions

What makes a business depend on its owner?

A business depends on you when important work or decisions cannot continue to the required standard without your involvement. The dependency may sit in your authority, knowledge, customer relationships, or capacity.

Start with one piece of work

Pick a decision or commitment that usually comes back to you. Ask what another person would need to carry it: information, permission to act, practice, or time. Then try the handoff at a scale where you can see what happens and step in if needed.

You can make the work easier to hand off while retaining ownership and the responsibilities you choose to keep.

Read more about transferability while you still own the business

Where to go next

If you’re exploring how to give others more responsibility while keeping ownership, Insights has more on what can carry over when your role changes.

Browse Insights on owner dependence and transferability