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9 Warning Signs If YOU Are Not The STAR On The Christmas Tree

Andre Abi Awad
The Freedom Owner
Published in
5 min readDec 25, 2024

If you were to draw a picture that visually represents your role in your business, what would it look like?

Are you at the top of a traditional Christmas-tree-like organizational chart, or are you stuck in the middle of your business, like a hub in a bicycle wheel?

As anyone who was on a flight in the middle of a Christmas snowstorm knows, a hub-and-spoke model is only as strong as the hub. The moment the hub is overwhelmed, the entire system fails.

Acquirers generally avoid hub-and-spoke managed businesses because they understand the dangers of buying a company too dependent on the owner. If you are not planning to sell, you are not even able to scale it.

If you are not the start on the Christmas tree, then here’s a list of nine warning signs you’re a hub-and-spoke owner and some suggestions for pulling yourself out of the middle of your business:

1. You sign all of the checks

Most business owners sign the checks, but what happens if you’re away for a couple of days and an important supplier needs to be paid? Consider giving an employee signing authority for checks up to an amount you’re comfortable with, and then change the mailing address on your bank statements so they are mailed to your home (not the office)…

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The Freedom Owner
The Freedom Owner

Published in The Freedom Owner

If you’re like most business owners, you aspire to have the freedom that comes from owning your own business. Unfortunately, growing a larger business gets you further from your ultimate goal of freedom. Read this publication to claim back your Freedom.

Andre Abi Awad
Andre Abi Awad

Written by Andre Abi Awad

Claim your Freedom as a Business Owner — Read more on “The Freedom Owner” publication on my profile. Helping Entrepreneurs in 54 countries since 2008.

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