Did you know that businesses which can operate effectively without their owner for three months are twice as likely to receive an acquisition offer exceeding 6x EBITDA? (Source: Value Builder Analytics from 80,000+ businesses).
Kristie Shifflette’s journey with Orangetheory Fitness, as highlighted by Value Builder, illustrates this perfectly. Initially, Kristie handled everything herself – marketing, payroll, hiring, even site oversight. Her success was directly tied to her constant presence.
But as she expanded to multiple locations, the cracks began to show. Kristie discovered that the “A-Player” approach wasn’t scalable. Hiring superstars might seem the obvious path, but relying on them often chains you to your business, creating a bottleneck that prevents true growth and freedom.
Kristie shifted her mindset:
💎 Systemised Everything: She created comprehensive playbooks for sales, management, and operations.
💎Empowered Her Team: Studio managers became mini-CEOs, accountable for their own success through a clear compensation structure.
💎Built Predictable Results: Through clear systems, enabling anyone, even without superstar talent, to achieve consistent success.
✅ The result?
💎13 highly profitable locations generating over £10 million annually, with EBITDA margins of up to 40%.
✅ Key Lesson:
💎Don’t scale your business solely on talent – scale it on robust, repeatable systems.
💎Systems deliver predictability, clarity, and consistent quality, regardless of who’s performing the task.
As a Business Owner, your role isn’t to manage every detail – it’s to clear the path, create reliable processes, and let your business thrive independently.
Kristie’s story offers an important lesson:
➡️ Make yourself less essential, and your business becomes more valuable.
If you’re still the one unlocking the doors in the morning and locking up at night – literally or metaphorically – ask yourself:
Ask yourself:
❓ What would break if I stepped away for 90 days?
If your answer is uncertain, start building your systems today. Create your playbooks.
Let’s talk about making your business truly scalable, valuable, and independent.
