The Importance Of Letting Go When Running A Business

Mario Toneguzzi

Julie Ellis is a two-time winner of the Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards in the category of RBC Momentum (2009) and Profit Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship (2014).

Ellis, CEO and Founder of Julie Ellis & Co, has a passion and desire for women entrepreneurs to rise to new levels of success.

In this interview, Ellis discusses:

  • Why it’s important to step back from your business and delegate;
  • The importance of taking the emotional out of decisions;
  • Her focus on women entrepreneurs

Enjoy,
Mark

Julie Ellis is a two-time winner of the Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards in the category of RBC Momentum (2009) and Profit Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship (2014).

Ellis, CEO and Founder of Julie Ellis & Co, has a passion and desire for women entrepreneurs to rise to new levels of success.

“I am convinced that if we work together, many more things are possible than if we do it alone. I have been on the edge of product development, doing things that I was told were impossible. I have also struggled, after selling the company that I deeply loved. This high, followed by the deepest low, caused me to start investigating what makes women reach for big goals. To explore how we all do it. Finding the common threads,” she says.

Ellis has 15 years of experience in the financial services industry and was most recently the Chief Operating Officer for a privately held omni channel retailer in Canada, responsible for driving the company’s growth toward operational excellence, team integration and market expansion.

She is the co-founder of the successful Canadian small business Mabel’s Labels and has been involved in the business and startup communities for many years.

“Selling your business is a lot of work. More than you can imagine in terms of going through the due diligence process and taking a bit of time to think about yourself and what you envision for after is an important part of that process,” says Ellis. “And, really, arriving on day one after the acquisition is a start line not a finish line. The new owners want a lot of things even though it feels like you gave them a lot in the process of selling.

“And so it’s not a race to the finish line, sell the business and take a big breath. It’s often race to a finish line and how are you ready to move forward with the new owners in the new way that the company might go forward.”

Ellis is one of the panelists at the upcoming Business Transitions Forum on May 9. She will be participating in a discussion entitled ‘Can Your Business Run Without You?’

Whether you want to sell some or all of your business, or simply step away from day-to-day business activities – you should be asking if your company can run by itself or  if it’s time to step aside to hire a CEO to replace yourself.

Why would you want to do this? Understanding your strengths (and weaknesses) is the key to the success of your business.  This session will help you better understand the steps to ensuring your team and business can run by itself, and if it’s time to consider stepping out of the way of a new CEO to position your business for greater growth, a longer legacy and/or a more successful transition.

Pro-tip: A business that can run by itself is usually more appealing to acquirers.

This session will help you better understand:

  • Practical steps to remove yourself from the day-to-day operations of your business
  • The process of management and leadership succession planning – and its impact on the value of your business
  • Determining if it’s time to consider stepping out of the way of a new CEO to position your business for greater growth, a longer legacy and/or a more successful transition.
  • Tips for hiring the right team and/or CEO successor to help grow your business

Today, Ellis is a certified coach, working with people in the leadership space who need to adjust how they’re operating to make it to the next level. She has a particular focus on women entrepreneurs who are sitting in the seven figure sales level and want to grow it to eight figures.

“We’re going to be talking about how to help your business run without you. And I think that’s a super important thing for entrepreneurs because as you grow and scale your business, you have to let go of a lot of things,” says Ellis. “And sometimes the reasons we start businesses and what we love to do in them, what happens is our business grows, changes, and we have to let go of things. And that creates a conflict within the entrepreneur.”

It’s important that entrepreneurs learn how to delegate effectively and have decision-making processes in place to allow the team to rise up and be accountable and work together to achieve goals.

Ellis was Chair of the Board at Innovation Factory in Hamilton, which offers programs that accelerate the innovation process for up-and-coming companies through collaboration with community-based resources from business, science, government, academia and finance.

She is the current Board Chair at Angel One Investor Network, one of the most active angel groups in Canada.

Ellis has extensive experience mentoring leaders of all levels across several industries to achieve their professional goals and is a sought-after speaker and presenter on topics ranging from leadership development to corporate culture building, to growth and scale.



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