As the owner preparing for an exit, my seat has become a dumping ground for random tasks that do not fit anywhere else, from managing our building lease to troubleshooting IT. How do we clean up my seat so it looks clean to a buyer?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

An owner who holds a catch-all seat filled with miscellaneous operational tasks is a massive red flag for a potential buyer. It tells them that the business is highly dependent on you and that your processes are not institutionalized. To prepare for a clean exit, you must systematically clean up your seat and distribute those loose ends. First, list every single task and responsibility you currently handle that does not fit under the five core roles of your official seat. This is your delegating and elevating list. Second, look at your Accountability Chart and identify where these responsibilities actually belong. Managing the building lease is an operations or finance function, so it belongs under the VP of Operations or Head of Finance seat. Troubleshooting IT belongs under an IT or Operations seat. If a task does not fit into any existing seat, you must either redefine an existing seat to include it or create a new seat if the workload justifies it. Third, transition these responsibilities to the appropriate seat holders. Do not just dump them; ensure the person who sits in that seat GWCs the new responsibility and has the capacity to absorb it. By cleaning up your seat, you achieve two things. You make your business far more attractive to buyers because they see a self-sustaining operational structure, and you free up your own capacity to focus on high-value exit planning activities. Your goal is to enter your exit transition holding only the seats that are absolutely necessary for your role, with zero random operational baggage.