The Power of Working on, Not in, Your Business

Have you ever considered that knowing too much about your company’s product or service could be a disadvantage? Sometimes, not being a technical expert can help you avoid a common trap many founders fall into.

Carrie Kelsch, who founded A Plus Garage Doors in 2005, had no experience in garage door repair. Instead of seeing that as a disadvantage, she turned it into an edge by focusing on growth, leadership, and building a high-performing team rather than getting stuck in the technical side of the business.

“I didn’t, and I still don’t, know how to fix a garage door,” she says. Instead, Carrie leaned on her team to handle operations so she could dedicate her energy to marketing and growth. This approach reflects the advice in Michael Gerber’s The E-Myth Revisited: to work on your business, not in it.

Not Getting Taken Advantage Of 

You might worry that if you don’t understand the technical side of your business, employees or vendors could take advantage of you by claiming tasks take longer or cost more than they actually do. To address this, consider tying key employees’ compensation to your company’s long-term success.

One powerful strategy is implementing phantom equity. This gives employees a stake in the financial upside of your business without transferring actual ownership. It ensures their decisions are aligned with your goals and motivates them to contribute to the growth of your company.

Carrie used a similar approach, rewarding loyal team members with phantom shares. This gave her team a sense of ownership and accountability, which helped her retain top talent. With her team handling the delivery of their service and aligned to the company’s success, Carrie was free to focus on growth.

A Transformative Exit

In 2024 Carrie sold a majority stake of A Plus Garage Doors to Guild Garage Group, a private equity-backed roll-up in the home services space. Guild valued her business at approximately $70 million, recognizing the strong financial foundation and brand she had built.

This deal allowed Carrie to take significant capital off the table while keeping a stake in the company’s future growth. It’s proof that you don’t have to master every technical detail to build a business worth millions.

Carrie’s journey shows that you don’t need to be a technical expert to succeed. By focusing on growth, empowering your team, and aligning incentives with performance, you can build a valuable asset that attracts buyers or investors. Working on your business—not in it—frees you to focus on the big picture, turning what might seem like a disadvantage into a competitive edge.

Your business is more than the product or service it offers. It’s a system, a brand, and, ultimately, an asset. Sometimes the less you know about how the sausage is made, the better.