Your Business Shouldn’t Need You 24/7

Ever feel like your business can't function without you? Like you are the engine keeping it alive? In this episode, I share the hard truth I had to face: if your business needs you 24/7, you don’t own a business — you own a job. And one with terrible hours.

So today, I'm walking you through four things you must do to build a business that runs without you — so you can finally step into the role of visionary instead of being the bottleneck.

🔍 Here’s what I break down:

1. Audit Your Role – Are you the CEO or just a very busy assistant? Learn how to identify what only you should be doing.
2. Systematize or Suffer – If it’s repeatable, it needs a system. I walk you through how to document, delegate, and automate.
3. Build a Thinking Team – Stop hiring for tasks. Start building a culture of ownership so your team solves problems without needing you.
4. Redesign Your Calendar – If your calendar is packed, you're not scaling. Learn how to create space to lead, think, and build.

If you stepped away for two weeks, would your business still run? Would your clients be served? Would revenue still come in?

If you're ready to build a business that gives you freedom — not just another job — DM me the words “ceoaudit” on Instagram @itsraquelq and let's design your CEO blueprint together.

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Thank you for joining me on this episode of The Raquel Show, and remember, keep pushing your limits to achieve your goals.

For updates and collaborations or opportunities, go to www.LetsPlayBigger.com

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Chapters

• 1:24 Introduction: For high performers who feel like something's off
• 1:53 Would your business run if you stepped away for 2 weeks?
• 2:22 You’re Surviving, Not Scaling
• 3:20 The CEO vs. The Engine
• 3:50 Core Shift 1: Audit Your Role
• 5:18 Core Shift 2: Systematize or Suffer
• 6:36 Core Shift 3: Build a Thinking Team
• 7:33 Core Shift 4: Redesign Your Calendar Like a CEO
• 8:31 The Leverage Gap Test
• 9:30 My Real-Life CEO Schedule
• 10:00 Final Thoughts & Call to Action

Transcript

Leverage doesn't mean hiring more bodies. It means building a culture of ownership because when you hire people who align with your vision and not skill sets, you win. I want you to train them to solve problems without asking for permission. If you are constantly checking on your team to see if they are working, I would probably just dive into this a little bit deeper. Stop asking yourself, how can I do more? And start asking who can do this better than me? 

Welcome back to the Raquel show. This show is for entrepreneurs who want to play bigger in business and in life. And today's episode is for all of you high performers, the hustlers, the ones everyone calls the superhuman because you are running a hundred miles an hour, but deep down inside, you know, something's off. 

So I want you to ask yourself if you stepped away from your business for two weeks, would it keep running? And the reason why I want to talk about this is I know oftentimes when we go to a vacation or to a trip and I'm getting ready to go to Vegas for my friend Neil's forward event is if you stepped away from your business for a few days, two weeks a month, would it still be running? Would your clients still be served and would money still come in? 

And if the answer isn't a confident yes, then your business doesn't have systems. It has you and that's not scaling. It's surviving my friends today. I want to break down how to build a business that doesn't require you 24 seven because guess what? You weren't meant to be the engine forever. You were meant to be the visionary, the architect. I know this because I've been there. I used to pride myself in doing it all; being that superwoman, running on four hours of sleep, I was the rainmaker, the marketer, the recruiter, the coach, even sometimes the transaction coordinator, and of course the therapist for every client and every agent on the team. I used to pride myself being needed because it felt like it was proof that I was important for my business. 

But here's the truth. If your business needs you 24/7, you don't own a business, you own a job and with really bad hours. And it hit me during the recession when I became the CEO of a brokerage. I realized the difference between entrepreneurs who build empires and those who burn out came down to one thing. They stopped being the engine and started being the visionary. They started being the architect of their business. So I know you're probably asking, Raquel, how do I stop being the engine of my business? Well, I always want to give you a framework and things to think about as you design your next level of business. 

Number one is I want you to audit your role. Are you the engine or are you really the CEO, the visionary or the architect? Start with being honest with yourself. List every task you do weekly. And if I followed you for a week and evaluated how you run your business, would you be proud or would you be embarrassed? How about this? What if you looked at all the things you did? In a single week, how productive you were for the role that you have in the company. Would you hire you?

I want you to take everything that you do and I want you to circle the things that only, only you can do not that you can do it better than anybody else in the company. I want you to circle the things that only you can do, whether it's the vision, the relationships, recording content for your brand strategy. And for some, it might be handling clients when it comes to the transaction. Guess what? Everything else could be leverage. And here's the reality check. If you're still doing $20 an hour task, you're not the CEO. You're just an overpaid assistant. And trust me, I know it is not easy letting go of control. 

So what's one task that you are holding onto out of fear that it will not get done right. And it might be for some of you guys, several tasks. 

Number two is I want you to systematize or suffer. Build a process that runs without you. A business without systems is a business that owns you. So document your client journey from lead to close, create SOPs for all those repeatable tasks. Now you can use AI for this. We just had a call this week and she taught us on how to build custom GBTs for different parts of your business. Then you can automate things where it's possible, whether it's emails, text messages, follow ups and scheduling. 

On our Arizona team, we have built a CEO Hub dashboard where agents run their business on autopilot without them being a part of everything and purely focus on just getting clients and getting contracts. And if you were gone for 30 days, I want you to think about what's the first thing that would break in your business. 

And number three is I want you to build a team that thinks not just executes and not just gets tasks done off a checklist. You see, leverage doesn't mean hiring more bodies. It means building a culture ownership because when you hire people who align with your vision and not skill sets, you win. I want you to train them to solve problems without asking for permission.

During my coaching sessions with my new staff members, I'm always saying, what would you do if I wasn't here? What would you do if Raquel wasn't available? I want to see where they're thinking and I want you to empower them to make decisions so that you're no longer the bottleneck. If you are constantly checking on your team to see if they are working, I would probably just dive into this a little bit deeper. Stop asking yourself, how can I do more? And start asking who can do this better than me? Or what I like to say, who is my who for this? What role are you missing in your business right now that could give you 10 hours back weekly. 

And number four is I want you to redesign your calendar like a true CEO. You can't scale if your calendar is overbooked or if it's clogged with busy work. I want you to block times for your CEO activities is what I like to tell my coaching clients. Whether it's vision, looking over KPIs, strategy, relationships, I want you to protect your time like your life depends on it because it is. 

And today focus is a skill. There are way too many distractions in our business. I also want you to schedule off days from your business to test its independence. And I want you to schedule days where you actually work on your business with no client calls, no appointments. And this day will help you build for things in the future. So here's your test is scheduled no work day next week. Just pick one day that you're not going to work at all and watch where your business struggles. That's your leverage gap.

I remember I used to go on vacation just to see where things would break because a mentor of mine gave me that advice and he said, you'll actually see who steps up and who slacks off when you are not there. The ones that step up, pay attention to them, give them opportunities. So if your business was designed to support your life, what would your weekly schedule look like? I know when school's in session, I have a block on my calendar Monday through Friday from 1:30 to 4:00 because sometimes I pick up the kids and sometimes we go to lunch or a late lunch, right? 

So I've designed the business where I can be there for my family. So here's the thing. If you're tired of being the engine, if you want to scale smarter, not harder, if you're ready to build a business that gives you freedom instead of taking from it, this is exactly what we teach in our Play Bigger Coaching and we call it the Agent CEO Method. I want you to DM me the word "ceoaudit" on Instagram. If you're interested in designing your CEO Blueprint. 

I wanna thank you all my friends for hanging out with me today and sharing our episodes on your stories. I also wanna say thank you for being a part of our community and tuning in to another quick no fluff episodes of the Raquel show. And until next time, I want you all to keep leveling up and keep playing bigger my friends.