806: Mike Michalowicz – Like Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Without You

Imagine taking a four-week vacation from your business. I know, even the thought of it might put you into a brief panic. But imagine that it’s not only possible, but also the best thing you could do for your business – and it probably is! In fact, your business might even grow without you. It takes a plan, and that plan is called ‘Clockwork,’ which is why we’re talking to Mike Michalowicz today. A favorite guest on The Self-Employed Life, Mike’s mission is to eradicate entrepreneurial poverty. One way he does this is by helping entrepreneurs like us to design our businesses to run without us — hence, the concept of Clockwork. In this conversation, we discuss fractionalizing yourself, leveraging your core competencies, scaling vs. growing, and becoming a shareholder in your own business. As Mike says, we should be the soul – not the heart – of our own businesses. By his 35th birthday, Mike Michalowicz had founded and sold two multi-million dollar companies. Confident that he had the formula to success, he became a small business angel investor...and proceeded to lose his entire fortune. Then he started all over again, driven to find better ways to grow healthy, strong companies. Mike has devoted his life to the research and delivery of innovative, impactful entrepreneurial strategies to you. On mission to serve you, he has created perennially top selling books including: The Pumpkin Plan, Clockwork, Fix This Next, Get Different and Profit First, with over a million readers, remaining on Amazon’s Best Seller list after 8 years. Mike is also a popular main stage keynote speaker on innovative entrepreneurial topics; speaking to thousands of audience members. Clockwork: Revised & Expanded: Design your business to run itself is Mike’s latest release, coming August 2022. And be sure to subscribe to The Self-Employed Life in Apple Podcasts or follow us on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts so you don’t miss an episode. Everything you need can all be found at jeffreyshaw.com.  Mike Michalowicz, thank you so much for being here!   Remember, you might be in business FOR yourself but you are not in business BY yourself. Be your best self. Be proud and keep changing the world.     Guest Contact – MikeMichalowicz.com ClockWork.Life Contact Jeffrey –   JeffreyShaw.com Books by Jeffrey Shaw Business Coaching for Entrepreneurs The Self-Employed Summit Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share!     Valuable complimentary resources to help you –   The Self-Employed Business Institute — You know you're really good at what you do. You're talented, you have a skill set. The problem is you're probably in a field where there is no business education. This is common amongst self-employed people! And, there's no business education out there for us! You also know that being self-employed is unique and you need better strategies, coaching, support, and accountability. The Self-Employed Business Institute, a five-month online education is exactly what you need. Check it out! Take The Self-Employed Assessment! — Ever feel like you're all over the place? Or frustrated it seems like you have everything you need for your business success but it's somehow not coming together? Take this short quiz to discover the biggest hidden gap that’s keeping you from having a thriving Self-Employed Ecosystem. You’ll find out what part of your business needs attention and you'll also get a few laser-focused insights to help you start closing that gap. Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! — Is your website speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Having reviewed hundreds of websites, I can tell you 98% of websites are not. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. I'll email you a few suggestions to improve your brand message to attract more of your ideal customers. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO!   Host Jeffrey Shaw is a Small Business Consultant, Brand Management Consultant, Business Coach for Entrepreneurs, Keynote Speaker, TEDx Speaker and author of LINGO and The Self Employed Life (May 2021). Supporting self-employed business owners with business and personal development strategies they need to create sustainable success.