Let Go To Have Your Business Grow

By Jeff Tews and Susan Rather, BrightStar Care

The process of taking a step back could be the best thing you do for your franchise’s success.

From riding a tandem bicycle across the country, to taking a month-long kayak trip down the Mississippi, to riding through the rolling hills of Tuscany, Jeff Tews and Susan Rather have had many adventures and continue to embark on more. When learning about the duo’s amazing adventures, one would not next expect that they’re able to do all of this while operating a successful senior care franchise. Yet, for Jeff and Susan, their adventures are what makes them better business owners.

As with many new franchise owners, Jeff and Susan were apprehensive to take any time off from their business when they first opened. They wanted to be involved in day-to-day processes rather than trusting their staff to handle various tasks and operations. It took a few years, but by taking vacations and going on adventures, Jeff and Susan learned how to let go and trust in the skilled team they had hired and trained.

Once Jeff and Susan began their routine of stepping back every once in a while, it dramatically changed their business for the better. Their travels have had countless benefits for themselves and their business, including learning how to let go and to work ‘on’ their business and not ‘in’ their business.

Learning How to Let Go

For Jeff and Susan, the hardest part of their first travel experience was leaving work at home. On one of their first trips to Minnesota, the pair had to walk down the street until they found someplace with WiFi, and ended up sitting on a curb to complete payroll.

This is a major lesson for all franchisees, as learning to give up control and realizing that other people may be better for certain tasks is vital for growing a business. Learning to let go also does wonders for building confidence amongst your team and helps managers learn how to make decisions and feel confident in their choices. For example, on one of Jeff and Susan’s trips, a manager called them saying they felt a team member unfortunately needed to be let go. Jeff and Susan let the manager know they trusted whatever their decision was and felt confident the manager would begin recruiting a great new replacement.

In order to ensure your team is strong enough for you to step back, a key component at the beginning of this process is hiring people who you know have the skills beyond their roles. This means they can work with you to help grow your business. By setting up these ambitious opportunities and offering competitive pay, Jeff and Susan have created a ‘build it and they will come’ philosophy that helps to attract top talent.

Another thing you must do is to let employees know you have this confidence in them. Let your team know how much you care about them and value the work they are doing. That way, when you do take trips of your own, your team won’t feel like they are being abandoned or that they are left unequipped. Instead, you’ve built a culture of accountability.

Working On Your Business, Not In Your Business

One of the best benefits of stepping away from your business is thinking bigger picture and imagining where your business is headed. Since Jeff and Susan began their adventures, their business added on three additional territories and additional sectors of service. While being away, the duo were able to initiate new ideas such as dividing their brand’s services into distinct teams and assigning a manager to each, as well as creating a profit-based incentive plan to motivate staff and make people feel accountable for their decisions.

Working on your business is key, as you will never grow if your main role is to maintain the business you currently have. Hire people to do these tasks for you, so you won’t have to end up sitting on a curb on vacation taking care of payroll. If you are not tied up in these daily tasks, your mind is clear to think bigger picture when you do step away from the office and think about decisions that will move the needle for everyone involved.

Finding freedom as a franchise owner is one of the most empowering, rewarding things you can do. 

Jeff Tews and Susan Rather are BrightStar Care franchisees. They own the Madison, Wisconsin territory and were the fourth BrightStar Care location to ever open. To find out more on BrightStar Care, click here.