Under Armour Founder Is Stepping Down. Should You?
Sure, Kevin Plank founded a $5 billion dollar company, Under Armour, that is struggling a bit, in the eyes of the publicly traded markets. However, reading this news today got me thinking. When should a founder step down, if ever.
Some of us hope to sell our company. I sold two companies.
But are there other times to move aside?
Sometimes you’ve grown the company all you can and you realize that YOU are the biggest impediment to the companies growth.
Other times, maybe you have health reasons or are just plain tired.
There’s many reasons why you might want to not be the CEO of your company any more, and look to hire someone to run the company as the Under Armour founder is doing.
Built to Sell, by John Warrillow is one of the most well read books on this topic. Part of the way you build a company that’s built to sell is with clear systems and procedures.
Of course you also have to be profit focused. Profit First, by Mike Michalowicz is another gem to read, on your journey to selling your company and/or otherwise successfully exiting.
Leadership is also essential. Dave Ramsey’s book, Entre Leadership explores this in depth and definitely check out EntreLeadership.com
Finally, don’t forget marketing. This is essential to KNOW your customer and more. Seth Godin’s This is Marketing is a great read.
Starting a company is one thing. It has its challenges. Growing a company is even harder. Building a company that’s build to sell is even harder still. If you want to do it, plan years ago and build the company so someone else sees value and wants to buy it from you.
Congrats to Under Armour found Kevin Plank for launching a great company, let’s see what’s next!