For Founder-led Firms, Having a Clear Owner's Intent is Paramount to Success

I built something I didn't actually want to run. That was an incredibly painful realization, even in hindsight.

We had spent the better part of 6 years building Proofpoint Marketing - the first iteration of it - and and at the end, I was completely burnt out. Yes, there were some operational issues with the business, but nothing that couldn't be solved for. But I had no interest in solving for them anymore. We had a few great people who I would have loved to keep working with, and I would still hire them in a heartbeat if the need arises, but I just didn't want to be running an agency anymore.

Both personally and professionally I needed something different. Professionally, I realized that I missed building and doing strategic work for myself and with clients. I also realized that I had a unique skillset, being able to be more of a business growth consultant, rather than just a marketer, and this wasn't a skillset that could be easily taught to my existing team. I had tried. And failed. This failure drove me to slowly lose interest in managing and mentoring.

Personally, my wife and I were about to welcome our second baby into the family. It was something we had been working towards for over 5 years, and there was no way this little one wasn't going to get priority over everything else.

Mind you, I have figured all of this out in hindsight.

I tell you this story because it is a perfect example of what happens when a founder-led firm doesn't have clear owner's intent.

What is owner's intent? It's what success looks like in owning this business now and in the future. It needs to be specific. It needs to be measurable. It needs to be personal. Owner's intent is important because it gives you, the owner, focus by painting a clear picture of your personal vision of what business ownership needs to do for you.

It's OK to Be Selfish

For that matter, you won't be able to effectively do all the people-first culture, giving back to the community stuff that you want to do without being selfish. You have to take care of yourself first.

The first time this concept was clearly communicated to me was in Scott Adams' book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. He writes that taking care of yourself, specifically your health is priority #1, and taking care of your economics, in this case your business and what it provides for you, is priority #2.

Here are Scott's words:

As a servant leader, I found it hard to prioritize myself over others, and that eventually drove to burnout. I have seen many founders, especially those that run consulting firms, do this as well. We talk about people-first culture, and community involvement, but long-term, none of that is sustainable without a focus on growth and profitability, and more specifically the growth and profitability for the owners.

Slaving away in a business that isn't providing for you the way that you want it to will inevitably lead you to resent your business.

Have Realistic Expectations

As business owners and entrepreneurs we are taught to do annual planning, and 5 year planning, and vision boarding for our business, but we are rarely taught to do the same thing for ourselves.

What do you want your life to look like at the end of this year? What about in 5 years?

Does your current business strategy support that? If not, you have a mismatch between your business and your owner's intent, and that's a problem that you should prioritize solving.

Another common way approach this with my clients is I ask them about their endgame. What are they trying to achieve with this business? Do they want a big exit in 5 years so that they can retire early? Or are they looking to cash cow this thing for the next 20 years and then shut it down? Sometimes they don't know - they haven't thought about it enough yet. But once they have the answer, I ask... why? Why is this your endgame? how does this support the lifestyle you want to live?

I personally hate the term "lifestyle business" every business is a lifestyle business. The tech founders who are chasing large VC funding rounds and unicorn status generally know what they are getting themselves into, and have chosen the lifestyle that goes along with it. Just because we don't agree with that lifestyle, doesn't make that any less of a lifestyle business than the solopreneur consultant who chooses to only take on a few clients at a time.

So ask yourself - what kind of lifestyle do you want to live, and what tradeoffs are you willing to make? What are your non-negotiables?

Uncomfortable Choices

Once you go through this process, you need to be prepared to possibly confront some uncomfortable choices. You might realize that your desired business objectives, and the grind that it will take to reach them, don't match the lifestyle that you want to live.

This can happen for a variety of reasons, but most commonly the firm that you started when you were in your 20s/30s may no longer make sense for you when you are in your 40s with young children. Depending on the structure of your firm, and the stage of life you are in, it may be time to start thinking of an exit.

Or maybe it's the other way around - you have grand expectations of living it up on a yacht, and taking luxury vacations, but your small firm isn't positioned or designed in a way that will scale to a point where a lifestyle like that will be supported. You either need to change your lifestyle expectations, or look for ways to change the trajectory of the firm. Or again, maybe it's time to move on and start or join something different.

Mind the Gap

Remember, if you find that there is a gap between your owners intent and what your business is realistically able to deliver for you, you won't be able to be the leader necessary to successfully execute for that business - not in the long-term.

Be honest with yourself, be honest with your family, be honest with your partners, and be honest with your team. Transparency around owner's intent is paramount to success. Now I am not saying that every employee needs to know that your objective is to buy that Ferarri some day, but some level of understanding about the framing that you will use to make business decisions is absolutely important at all levels of the organization.

Need Help?

If this is something that you have struggled with, I'd love to hear from you, and lend an ear. You can message me directly at insights@proofpoint.marketing.

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