"Built to Sell" - Systems That Let You Work 6-8 Hours Per Week

Most consultants become slaves to their clients—available 24/7, custom work for everyone, no systems. John Warrillow shows you how to build processes so your consulting doesn't own you. And if you're late in your career and want the option to sell? This is the playbook.

Let me be direct about why Built to Sell belongs in the Encore Income ecosystem even though it seems to contradict the "stay small" philosophy.

The book's title is about building a business you can sell. But the actual value is in building a business that doesn't require you to be available 24/7. That's exactly what corporate professionals need when building supplementary income while keeping their day job.

Warrillow's core insight: if you build systems and processes instead of doing custom work for every client, your consulting practice can run in 6-8 hours per week instead of consuming your entire life.

Whether you ever sell is optional. But building it right from the start? That's essential.

The Problem: Most Consultants Become Slaves to Clients

Here's what happens to most corporate professionals who start consulting:

This is why most supplementary income attempts fail. Not because the skills aren't valuable. Because the delivery model is unsustainable.

Warrillow shows you the alternative: standardized processes, productized services, and systems that scale without scaling your hours.

The Core Concept: The Standardized Service Offering

Warrillow's framework centers on creating a "standard service offering"—something you do the same way every time, with proven processes and templates.

For corporate professionals, this translates directly:

Instead of: "I help companies with budget planning" (totally custom every time)

Do this: "I provide a 90-day Budget Variance Reduction System—audit, implementation, and 60-day support. Same process for every client."

The difference is massive:

This isn't about being inflexible or delivering cookie-cutter work. It's about having a proven process you customize 20% for each client instead of reinventing 100% every time.

The Five Steps to a Sellable (or Sustainable) Service Business

Warrillow breaks down the transformation into five stages. Here's what matters for Encore Income:

1. Find a Starving Crowd

Don't try to be everything to everyone. Specialize in solving one specific problem for one specific type of client.

Corporate example: Instead of "I do financial consulting," specialize in "I help manufacturers with $20M-$100M revenue reduce budget variance below 5%."

The narrower your focus, the easier it is to standardize your process—and the higher fees you can command.

2. Create Recurring Revenue

Warrillow advocates for subscription models. For most corporate consultants, this looks like retainer relationships rather than project-based work.

Example: Instead of one-time projects, offer quarterly budget planning support. Clients pay monthly for ongoing access.

This creates predictable income and deeper client relationships.

3. Develop Your Product

This is where standardization happens. Create templates, frameworks, checklists, and processes that you use with every client.

Example for budget planning consulting:

• Budget audit template (same 40-point checklist every time)
• Variance analysis framework (same methodology)
• Implementation roadmap (same phases, customized timing)
• Monthly review template (same format)

You build these once. Use them repeatedly. Refine over time. Your delivery gets faster and better, but your hours don't increase.

4. Hire Administrators (or Don't)

Warrillow recommends hiring to scale. For Encore Income, you can ignore this entirely. You're staying part-time. That's the whole point.

But his insight about documented processes still applies—even if you're the only one using them.

5. Get Two Years of Sales to Prove It Works

Warrillow's advice: demonstrate 24 months of consistent sales before considering an exit.

For Encore Income professionals not planning to sell: this is just proof your systems work. Two years of serving clients with standardized processes shows you've built something sustainable.

How This Applies Whether You Sell or Not

Here's the reality: most Encore Income professionals won't sell their consulting practice. They'll maintain it part-time for 10-15 years while building retirement assets.

But the systems thinking in Built to Sell still applies:

And for late-career professionals who might actually want to build and exit? This is your playbook.

The Late-Career Exit Option

Let's be honest about a scenario Warrillow addresses that might apply to some Encore Income professionals:

You're 58. You've spent 3 years building a consulting practice serving 5 manufacturers with your Budget Variance Reduction System. You're generating $85K annually in part-time income.

Two scenarios where selling makes sense:

Scenario 1: Health or energy decline. You can't maintain the 8 hours weekly anymore. But you've built something with documented processes, recurring revenue, and satisfied clients. Someone would pay 2-3x annual revenue for that.

At $85K annually, that's a $170K-$255K exit. Not life-changing, but it accelerates your Freedom Number significantly.

Scenario 2: You actually enjoy building and exiting. Some late-career professionals discover they like the challenge of systemizing and selling. If that's you, Warrillow shows you how to build specifically for that outcome.

Build it once with systems. Sell it. Repeat with different expertise. Some professionals do this 2-3 times in retirement, generating $400K-$600K total from sequential exits.

That's a perfectly valid use of this book—just not the primary use case for most Encore Income professionals.

What I Like About This Book

Warrillow tells the story through a narrative about a fictional business owner. Some people love this format. Some find it annoying. I'm neutral on it, but the framework is solid regardless.

The book is also refreshingly honest about what makes a business sellable—which turns out to be the same things that make a business sustainable: documented processes, recurring revenue, proven results.

Also, unlike most business books that assume you're building the next unicorn, this one is grounded in small service businesses. That makes it directly applicable to consulting practices.

What I Don't Like

The book assumes you want to scale and hire a team. Most Encore Income professionals don't. You can ignore those sections entirely.

Also, Warrillow emphasizes recurring revenue through subscriptions. That works for some consulting models but not all. Don't force it if retainers don't make sense for your niche.

Finally, the narrative format means it takes longer to get to the actionable frameworks than if it were just straight instruction. But that's a style preference, not a flaw.

The Bottom Line

Is this book going to make you want to sell your consulting practice? Probably not.

Is it going to show you how to build systems so your consulting doesn't consume your life?

Absolutely.

And if you're late in your career and the exit option appeals to you—or if circumstances change and you need that option—the framework is here.

Either way, you win by building it right from the start.

Fortune favors the bold. But fortune also favors those who build systems that work whether they keep the business or sell it.

— Scott Fulbright

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