By Mark Tepper, an EO Cleveland member and the President of Strategic Wealth Partners

Summer is here, and although it may seem strange, now may be the perfect time to increase the value of your company.

The most valuable businesses are the ones that can survive without their owner. A buyer will pay a premium for a company that runs on autopilot and levy a steep discount for a business that is dependent on its owner.

This summer, consider taking an extended break from your business to see how things will run when you’re not in the building.  It’s likely that some things will go wrong, but use those errors as the raw material for making your business operate more independently of you – and therefore more valuable.

Here is a six-step plan for profiting from your vacation time this summer:

Step 1: Schedule your vacation plus one day

Whatever day you plan to start working again after your holiday, tell your staff you’ll be back one day later. That way, you’ll have a full day of uninterrupted time to dedicate to understanding what went wrong in your absence.

Step 2: Bucket the mistakes

When you return, make a summary of the things that went wrong and categorize them into one of three buckets:

• Mistakes: errors where there is a right and wrong answer;
• Bottlenecks: projects that had difficulties because you weren’t there to provide your feedback;
• Stalled projects: initiatives that went nowhere while you were gone because you’re the person leading them.

Step 3: Correct the mistakes

The first and easiest place to start is to simply correct the mistakes that were made. Usually mistakes are due to a lack of training rather than outright negligence. The right answer may be crystal clear in your head but not immediately obvious to your staff. Write up some instructions for next time the employees face the same situation. Make sure your instructions are clear, and share them with your team so everyone has them (a file sharing service like Google Drive or DropBox can be a helpful repository for your instructions).

Read about the remaining ways to profit from your vacation this summer here.