For many manufacturing business owners, retirement sounds great in theory.
More time. Fewer 6am starts. No calls about a job that should have gone out yesterday. Maybe getting a good enough price for the business to buy a boat, a bach, some travel, or just enjoy the simply the luxury of not thinking about the factory every weekend.
But there’s a question sitting between running the business today and actually being able to retire:
Can the business run without you?
For many small and medium manufacturers, years of experience live in the owner's head.
You know which jobs are profitable. You know which customer always changes the spec at the last minute. You know which machine is likely to cause trouble, who is best at which jobs, what needs ordering and what has to happen next to keep everything moving.
You may be the only person who knows how to estimate or cost jobs or how to get multiple jobs delivered on time.
That knowledge makes you incredibly valuable to the business.
Unfortunately, it can also make the business less valuable without you.
A buyer isn't just buying your machines
When it comes time to sell, a prospective buyer isn't simply looking at the building, equipment, customer list and last year's profit.
They're trying to work out what they are actually buying.
If the answer is a successful manufacturing business with established processes, good information, clear visibility of work and a team that knows how to operate it, that's attractive.
If the answer is a successful manufacturing business that works because Dave has been there for 27 years and somehow knows everything, that's a rather different proposition.
The more dependent the business is on its owner, the harder the handover can be and the greater the risk for the person buying it.
Two people talking over a contract and a calculator, negotiating a price.
Start building a business someone else can understand
This is where good systems and simple clear software implemented well can become important.
Over time, you want to take the information that's stored in people's heads, notebooks, spreadsheets, whiteboards and assorted bits of software and turn it into a business that is visible and understandable.
What has been quoted? What has been ordered? What is waiting for materials? What's on the factory floor? What's holding up production? What needs to happen next? What did this job actually cost us? What has been invoiced? How much do jobs like this cost? What is the most profitable type of work?
A good manufacturing system makes those answers part of the way the business operates, rather than something the owner has to personally know.
And that has benefits long before you sell.
You can take a holiday without constantly checking your phone. Someone else can make a decision without finding you first. New staff can understand how work moves through the factory. Problems become visible earlier. You can spend more time improving the business instead of being the human glue holding it together.
Don't wait until you're ready to sell
If retirement is five or ten years away, it can be tempting to think this is a problem for later.
It isn't.
A business that can operate independently of its owner isn't created six months before it goes on the market. Systems need to become part of everyday operations. People need time to learn them. Processes need to be tested and improved. The business needs to demonstrate that it can perform without everything running through one person.
Think of it as gradually making yourself less operationally essential.
That might sound like an odd ambition after spending decades making yourself indispensable, but it's one of the most valuable things you can do.
Build something you can actually leave behind
At Takticians, we're building manufacturing software around the flow of work through your entire business, from the first customer conversation and quote through production to delivery and invoicing.
The goal isn't simply to replace a spreadsheet or give you another piece of software to manage - it’s giving total visibility and collection of your factory’s knowledge in one place.
Software done well can help make what's happening in your business visible, create repeatable ways of working and build a system that isn't dependent on one person remembering how everything works.
Because one day you might want to walk out of the factory, hand the keys to someone else and know they can take it from there.
And ideally, they'll be prepared to pay you well for the privilege.
