What business owner is not proud of their accomplishments starting and running a successful business? Many successful business owners are proud of the fact that their business needs them to operate, however this fact does not contribute to the value of their business. To have a business dependent on the owner is like building a castle with a foundation of sand. Much of the value of the business is derived from that owners knowledge and expertise. What happens if the owner gets sick and cannot operate the business? Again we can go back to a potential purchasers aversion to uncertainty. When anyone is trying to valuate a business they will want to know how much of that business can stand on its own or what it is dependent on. If the business is dependent on one individual to be on site in a full time active roll that will devalue the business. Choose to set up the processes in your business to be dependent on no one so anyone could come in and take over at a moments notice with no perceivable change in operations or profits.