Editor’s Note: This article is based on Steve Sanduski’s podcast interview with Jon Jones, CEO of Brighton Jones. To access more than 100 interviews with industry leaders, subscribe for free to Steve’s podcast, Between Now and Success by clicking here.

How long could your business survive without you?

Building a firm that can run without you for an extended period of time is the mark of having a business, versus a self-employed job. But for many advisors, it’s a goal that never comes to fruition.

Not so for my recent podcast guest, Jon Jones. In 2013, Jon packed up his family and they spent a year traveling the world and visiting 35 countries. And his business actually grew while he was gone.

Here are three keys to building a getaway business.

First: Get The Right People And Processes In Place

Taking off for a year was not a spur of the moment decision for Jon. He meticulously planned for several years and systematically put the key players in place so his job would essentially be redundant.

In fact, for about eight years leading up to the trip, Jon focused on the nitty gritty details of building a self-managing company. He hired specialists, defined and implemented processes, upgraded technology to help support the processes, created a wealth management scorecard, and, in the last year, started prepping the team for his absence.

Jon gave special attention to a top priority he called “get-keep.”

"I created a framework to say, 'I’m not going to leave our business until I know we have at least one person that I’ve hired that is just thinking about the strategy around getting people, keeping people, getting clients and keeping clients. As long as I had a really solid COO who was overseeing all of operations, I felt fine about taking off for a year. From the strategic standpoint, I felt like having somebody in charge of get-keep was super important, and still is."

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