In this solo presentation, Franne McNeal explains the eighth scalability driver – Hub and Spoke – which measures how dependent a business is on its owner. She describes the hub‑and‑spoke model using a story of an owner who acted as the central hub for employees, customers, and suppliers, noting that while this can feel efficient, it creates a single point of failure, especially evident during disruptions (e.g., an airport hub during a snowstorm). For potential acquirers, high owner dependence lowers the hub‑and‑spoke score and reduces the business’s attractiveness. McNeal offers practical steps to improve the score: document key processes in clear, written form; ensure employees know and can execute critical procedures (e.g., nightly close‑out steps, brand‑change protocols); and test the business’s resilience by taking short vacations to see if operations continue smoothly without the owner. By reducing reliance on the owner, the business becomes more scalable and acquisition‑ready.
Chapters
Hi, I'm Franne McNeal, and there are 8 key drivers that drive the scalability of a company. The 8th one is hub and spoke. Hub and spoke refers to how dependent your company is on you personally. Again, when the acquirer comes in to buy your business, they're going to want to know how's your business going to operate when So the more dependent your company is on you personally, the lower you're going to score on hub and spoke. So, you know, the name comes from about 20 years ago when there was a customer who basically said his role in the company was the hub. If you thought of a hub and spoke model, all of his employees came to him when they had a question, all of the customers came to him when they had a question and when they needed a quote from a supplier, everyone came to him. And he was very proud of the fact that his operating style was he was the hub of the business. And because of that, the business was very efficient. Well, it may be efficient. And if you've ever flown through a major airport, That's a hub during a snowstorm, and then the hub gets all locked up because of the snow, you know, it's a disaster. So the same thing applies for a business owner. When everything in the business is dependent on the business owner and the spokes can't do what they need to do, everything stops. So the key is to improve your score on Hub and Spoke And make sure that your business becomes less dependent on you personally. What are some quick ways and things that you can do to start documenting your processes right now? Write them down on paper and make sure that your employees are aware of, you know, the 7 steps to close up at night, or the 3 ways that you change your brand, or whatever is most important to your company. So that everything's not in your head, but it can be expressed and written in a way or communicated in a way or digested in a way that everyone and anyone in the company can operate when you're not there. One of the fun ways to measure whether or not you've mastered the Hub and Spoke Technique is to take a vacation. Start small, take a few days and see how the business does without you. If it doesn't break down, which it probably won't, you're on the way to mastering the hub and spoke.
