Put simply, what makes a business valuable is its ability to generate consistently excellent results without relying on the founder or a small group of experienced team members. If your business is valuable solely because you (and maybe others) are willing to work eighty hours a week, investors will be more likely to buy you or your best people than to pay a premium for the whole company. When a company is set up with the tools to run independent of its leaders, it is more valuable today—while you still own it—and, in the future, if you ever decide to sell some or all of it.
