The Trustedpreneurs wordmark, linking back to the home page

For founders leading companies from $2M to $25M

You built a business that can’t run without you.

Decisions still land on your desk, and your phone still rings on vacation. We help you put the right decisions with your team, so the business keeps moving when you step away.

People who know what it takes to carry a company.

Dr. Quatro-Ott of Varsity Orthopedics at her desk, holding two binders from her practice's written operations library
Dr. Quatro-Ott with her practice's operations library

Client evidence

At Varsity Orthopedics, the founding physician no longer handles every exception.

Read the client story
Madeline Ricci, founder of Trustedpreneurs and CEO of BNN Services.

Madeline knows how much can land on a founder's desk. She founded BNN Services in 2008 and still runs the eight figure company as CEO.

More about MadelineMadeline on LinkedIn
David Ricci, CEPA, co-founder of Trustedpreneurs and COO of BNN Services.

David helps keep company value in view as the work moves beyond the founder. He is COO of BNN Services and a Certified Exit Planning Advisor.

More about DavidDavid on LinkedIn

As featured in

The problem

Founder dependency can hide inside a good company.

The company is doing well, but people still wait for you. At night, the questions follow you home.

  • Decisions

    Why does every decision still end up on my desk?

    Approvals and client issues still land with you, even when your team has enough context to handle them.

  • Team ownership

    I hired good people. Why do they still wait for me before they act?

    Your people wait because they do not know which decisions are theirs to make.

  • Repeatable work

    Why are we fixing the same problem again?

    Too much of how the work gets done lives in people's heads. When someone leaves, the know-how leaves too.

  • Time away

    When did I last take a week off without checking in?

    One day away creates a backlog, so time off becomes harder to take.

You are doing a traffic light's job.

BUILT ON YOUYou are doing a traffic light's job.
BUILT BEYOND YOUThe signal works when you are not there.

When every decision comes through you, your team learns to wait.

When the business is quiet, these are the questions that stay with you.

If I got sick tomorrow, what would break first?

What is this company worth if it only works with me in it?

Buyers ask the same question. Across more than 80,000 companies in Value Builder’s analysis, businesses that could run without the founder were valued about 35% higher.

Source: Value Builder Analytics

Your business grew around you. See where it needs to carry more without you.

See What Stops

Founder Dependency Snapshot

Find where the business still leans on you.

The Snapshot looks at the four places dependency hides. You see your score for each area on screen, and the area most likely keeping you in the middle of the business.

  • See where the business still waits for you.
  • Know what to move first.

Start with the Snapshot to see what still comes back to you. If you need a clearer plan, the Audit shows what to change first.

See How We Work

From a client

“Their expertise and support helped me formulate strategies that will accelerate revenue growth and expedite the opening of my units.”

Chris Campbell · multi-unit franchise owner

The F.R.E.E.D. method

Freedom is something you build.

Five steps, done with you and your leadership team, so the new way of working holds after we step back.

  1. Step 1

    Find where dependency sits

    In decisions, relationships, handoffs, and approvals.

    From guessing what comes back to you to seeing it clearly.

  2. Step 2

    Clarify decisions and ownership

    Who owns what, and what stops coming back to you.

    From every decision coming to you to clear decisions your team owns.

  3. Step 3

    Create repeatable ways of working

    For work that runs on memory or heroics today.

    From the same problem coming back to a written way to handle it.

  4. Step 4

    Put them into daily operations

    So they hold when the week gets busy.

    From people waiting for approval to people knowing what to do.

  5. Step 5

    Build leaders to carry it forward

    The people taking on more ownership.

    From time away creating a backlog to a business that keeps moving.

See how we work
A family enjoying an outdoor concert together at sunset.

If you stepped away tomorrow, what would break first?

Your business should keep moving when you step away.

Picture taking a week off and coming back to a business that kept moving.