Ten years ago I burnt myself out working 100 hour work weeks. I was living in a two story home overlooking the strand at Manhattan Beach, California. It was any guy’s dream place. I had a flashy red sports car that went 160 mph. I had everything. But all I did was work. Surrounded by women and some of the best nightlife to be found and I just worked, worked, worked. Well eventually I burned out and just gave it all up.
Since then I have learned to value my time more than anything else. I managed to quickly rebound and found myself earning a six figure income as a first year real estate agent. But working real estate still meant I was doing the bulk of the work myself. I wanted to get back to my entrepreneur roots. And I promised myself that with my next business I would hire people to do the work and build systems so it ran flawlessly.
About 8 years ago I had an idea that I thought could work. I started a group of websites which real estate agents could use for marketing to customers in their areas. The sites found a small amount of success right away. And as soon as I could see a glimmer of hope for the business succeeding for real then I started hiring.
My first hire is still with me to this day. I started the company on a shoestring budget. I had already blown through all my savings from previous years (I have a habit of living all the way to my means 
. Anyways, I got this guy working for me and almost immediately went on a vacation with my girlfriend to Whistler, Canada for some snowboarding. He had no idea what he was doing, the business was brand new, and it was great. I told him it would all work out. And it did.
That business is a multi-million dollar company today and doing better than ever.
But the business did not work only because of an idea.
And it did not work because of the people I hired.
And it did not work because I over managed the company to make sure everything was always running great.
It DID work because the business was built to run successfully when I was away – which was almost always.
This means I had to put systems in place so that the people who really ran the company knew how to handle business. If I didn’t do this then I had to be on hand to solve problems. Being away is what made me systemize my business. And since I did it from the start then I was able to do it easily. Had I already become intimately involved in the day to day stuff then I know it would have been a lot harder to let go.
There really is not a whole lot more I can say about the “how to” part. But let me tell you it will be worth the effort to systemize. Since starting this business I have been on an almost endless vacation. Of course I work while travelling but leading this lifestyle has kept my businesses running smoothly.
Another big upside is that you are away from the day to day drama that employees bring to employers. You also get to see things from a different perspective. I think it gives a clearer picture of your business and the people you have working for you in it.
If you have a business that is tying you down then leave it. Fix the problems from the road. That is the best way to fix them. And start enjoying the fruits of your business because that is supposed to be what it is about anyways!
Jeremiah Thompson
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