Is your company prepared for your possible absence? What if you were suddenly unable to fulfill your duties as a leader? Could someone else step in and play their part? How about you decide to go on vacation for a few weeks? Would the business continue to function as it was supposed to, or would things begin to fall apart?

Too many tech company founders and leaders have no plans for their own absence. Instead, they take on as much work and as much responsibility as they can, as if they are going to work in this position forever, with no breaks.

If you want your business to have a better chance of success without you (whether you're leaving permanently or temporarily), it's important to prepare your business for your absence.

Set up a plan for you

First, it is a good idea to have a plan for your own interests. If you can't work at this company, do you have a backup plan for yourself?

One of the best options is: Long-term disability insurance policies are designed to protect you in case you ever find yourself in a position where you can't work; If you are injured in an accident or develop a chronic condition, your insurance policy will kick in and provide you with the income you need to keep going.

It's also a good idea to keep your wealth invested in a wide variety of assets, including stocks, bonds, real estate, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from various sectors. This way you will be able to establish a secondary stream of income for yourself and have a financial cushion in case the business is no longer a reliable source of income.

cross training

One of the most important steps you need to take for your business is cross training is a system to train other people in skills and responsibilities they don't normally have, but can take on if need be. These tasks are not currently handled by anyone else in your company, and no one knows how you approach them.

 a task each, or you could designate a single person to take over in your absence and teach them how to do all four types of tasks.

In either case, you will need to spend time guiding these people on how to handle their job responsibilities. Also, it's a good idea to document everything you do. Write standard operating procedures (SOPs) for your day-to-day responsibilities so the people who replace you have a strong resource they can refer to as they adjust to their new role.

While you're at it, consider introducing cross-training to the rest of your organization. Talk to other leaders in your company about the importance of training others on their responsibilities, and consider encouraging leaders from different departments to train each other.

Formation of a succession plan

Then consider writing a If you decide to leave the business, or if you are suddenly unable to fulfill your responsibilities, the succession plan will be critical in determining what happens next. Business leaders often use a succession plan to name an individual successor, someone to take over the business and carry out their primary responsibilities. You can also choose to provide instructions on how to distribute ownership of the business, or have wishes about how the business should develop in the future.


Going on vacation

If you're interested in how the business would function without you, consider going on an extended vacation as a kind of test run. Turn off your phone and designate your successor (or others you trust) to temporarily take over your responsibilities. Hopefully, your previous training and current documentation will be enough to allow your organization to run smoothly in your absence. Upon your return, you will likely find out everything that went wrong and all the little things that need to be corrected in your plan.

It is nearly impossible to fully prepare a business for your absence proactively; there are too many variables to take into account and too many things that can go wrong along the way. However, spending time and effort documenting and teaching your responsibilities to others in your organization can greatly increase your chances of success if you ever leave, for whatever reason. Work proactively to give your business the best possible chance of survival.