The Power of Working On, Not In, Your Business
It sounds counterintuitive, but here’s the reality:
Knowing too much about the technical side of your business can actually hold you back.
Founders often fall into the trap of becoming the expert technician—the one who can solve every problem, fix every glitch, and do the work better than anyone else. But if you’re serious about building a business that grows, scales, and eventually sells, your job isn’t to master every detail. It’s to lead.
From Zero Experience to a $70 Million Exit
When Carrie Kelsch launched A Plus Garage Doors in 2005, she didn’t know the first thing about fixing a garage door. And she didn’t try to.
Instead, she focused her energy where it mattered most: marketing, leadership, and building a team that could deliver operational excellence without her needing to get in the weeds.
“I didn’t, and I still don’t, know how to fix a garage door,” Carrie said.
Instead of being the technician, she was the architect—designing the business, scaling the brand, and driving the growth.
That philosophy lines up with what Michael Gerber famously outlined in The E-Myth Revisited: Work on your business, not in it.
Protect Yourself and Align Incentives
Of course, one of the big fears for owners who step back from day-to-day operations is getting taken advantage of. How do you know employees or vendors are delivering what they say they are? How do you maintain control without doing it all yourself?
Carrie used a smart solution: phantom equity.
Instead of giving away real ownership, she awarded key team members phantom shares—giving them a financial stake in the company’s success without losing control.
This strategy created alignment: employees thought and acted like owners, made better decisions, and stayed committed to long-term results.
And it paid off.
The Payoff: A Transformative Sale
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.
Valuation? Approximately $70 million.
By focusing on brand, systems, financial strength, and team accountability—not technical mastery—Carrie built a company acquirers wanted badly enough to pay a premium for.
She also kept a stake in the business, giving her the opportunity to benefit from future growth while already securing a life-changing exit.
Focus on the Business, Not Just the Work
Your business is more than the product or service you sell.
It’s a brand. It’s a system. It’s an asset.
And sometimes, the less you’re involved in the technical side, the stronger your company becomes.
When you work on your business—building systems, teams, and leadership capacity—you create a company that doesn’t just run.
You create a company that grows, thrives, and becomes a magnet for investors and buyers.
Ready to focus on the big picture and build a business that runs—and sells—without you?
Let’s talk about how to shift your role and multiply your company’s value.
📩 Email: paulwildrick@provengain.com
📞 Call: 925.963.9665
🌐 Visit: www.provengain.com
