Stop Babysitting Your Business: Use AI Automation to Boost Valuation & Win Your Freedom
In this episode of Freedom to Exit, Lani Dickinson delivers a wake-up call for founders still stuck inside their business: buyers don’t want your hustle—they want your systems.
Lani breaks down how AI and automation directly impact your company’s value, employee retention, client satisfaction, and ultimate ability to scale—or sell. You’ll hear why burnout, dropped leads, and repetitive tasks are slowly eroding your valuation, and how small changes in automation can unlock the freedom (and exit multiple) you actually started your business for.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- Why most businesses that list never sell (and how to avoid being one of them)
- How automation impacts profitability, client experience, and valuation
- What buyers are really looking for—and why they don’t care how hard you work
- How to hit industry benchmarks that matter in due diligence
- Why AI improves employee retention and eliminates burnout
- The truth about client expectations, speed-to-lead, and how automation meets them
- Real stories of founders who stopped babysitting their business—and finally stepped away
Links Mentioned:
✅ 7 Ways AI Can Boost Your Sales and Save You Time – Free Guide
✅ The Changes Assessment – See What Buyers See in Your Business
Enjoyed this episode?
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Connect with Lani Dickinson:
📌 Instagram: @stealthfreedomtoexit
📌 Facebook: Lani Dickinson
📩 Email: info@stealthfreedomtoexit.com
🌐 Website: stealthfreedomtoexit.com
If this episode helped you, send it to a fellow founder—and don’t forget to leave a review. It helps more business owners find the show and take their next step toward freedom.
Transcript
>> Lani Dickinson: Welcome back to Freedom to Exit. We're gonna talk about how
Speaker:you can't exit, what you still have to babysit, and
Speaker:how automation can increase the business value and free you
Speaker:up. Cause here's the real truth. While
Speaker:most owners of today were working really
Speaker:hard with their head down building a business over
Speaker:the last 20, 30 years, the rules of the
Speaker:game changed. Buyers today do not
Speaker:want to work in the business. They want the cash flow
Speaker:that comes from the business. And maybe they want to be
Speaker:connected to the outcome that the business provides for the
Speaker:buyers. They don't want to buy a job
Speaker:that they have to work in. That's the painful
Speaker:truth of what's going on today. So this is also
Speaker:why only one in five businesses sell and
Speaker:the four out of five that don't. There's a whole army
Speaker:of people being trained on how to take
Speaker:advantage of the fact that the owner is
Speaker:still working in the business. And
Speaker:so these deals look like massive
Speaker:owner financing. A, reduced payout in the
Speaker:beginning, a future payout based on some
Speaker:metrics that the owner no longer controls the
Speaker:existing cash flow of the business, paying the
Speaker:owner of salary while they train
Speaker:new people how to basically disassemble
Speaker:everything they built. This is the real reality of what's going
Speaker:on in business buying today. If you
Speaker:cannot walk away from your business without it crumbling,
Speaker:you don't own a business, you own a job and a
Speaker:stressful one with no health insurance. And
Speaker:it's one that nobody wants to buy. Buyers today are looking
Speaker:for something scalable, stable and
Speaker:completely independent of them. When they buy the
Speaker:business, they are not buying your hustle, they're
Speaker:buying your systems. And today we're going to talk
Speaker:about how automation, even if you just do a little bit,
Speaker:especially AI powered automation, can help you
Speaker:finally step out of the day to day, increase your
Speaker:valuation and get you the freedom you started
Speaker:the business for in the first, first place. Here I have
Speaker:a tale of two agencies with the same revenue. Both of
Speaker:them doing about 1.2 million a year.
Speaker:The first ones still taking sales calls,
Speaker:still handling client onboarding, writing
Speaker:proposals, checking reports before they went out
Speaker:and responding to Slack messages over the weekend. The
Speaker:second had automated lead qualification in booking
Speaker:a templated onboarding recorded video process
Speaker:for onboarding of new clients. All the delivery systems
Speaker:handled through SOPs and automation. AI handling
Speaker:all of the frontline FAQs and follow ups so they could get to
Speaker:the 12 follow ups needed to close the sale. Guess what happened?
Speaker:Agency one can't sell. The buyer
Speaker:said, well we'll buy it at a
Speaker:discount. But you need to come with the business a minimum
Speaker:of three years, ideally five. Can you imagine selling
Speaker:your business and becoming an employee of it for five
Speaker:more years doing it the way the new owner wants
Speaker:to do it. And by the way, they're not on site in the business
Speaker:because they're not working in the business and agency
Speaker:too. Sold for 4 times EBITDA
Speaker:clean quick premium offer,
Speaker:no earn out, no need to stay on as an employee.
Speaker:Why? Because it was a plug and play business
Speaker:that had also been optimized, which I'm going to talk about in a
Speaker:future episode optimization. So buyers
Speaker:buy systems, not superheroes.
Speaker:Your firefighting ability is not impressive
Speaker:to a buyer and I know that hurts to hear that
Speaker:they don't care that you know how to do all the
Speaker:things and that you are that is not a badge of
Speaker:honor if you're ever going to exit your business
Speaker:either for time and location freedom. Now stop missing
Speaker:dinners at home and stop missing the events and
Speaker:activities or the ability to exit fully
Speaker:in a sale later. Buyers don't really want
Speaker:to buy your genius. They want to buy a
Speaker:recipe, not the chef. You gotta think about that.
Speaker:And if the recipe only works if you're in the
Speaker:kitchen, it's not scalable and it's definitely
Speaker:not sellable. Automation really helps you step out of that
Speaker:role and let your business run like a machine, even
Speaker:if you're on the beach or building your next thing. Here's one of my
Speaker:favorite stories. It's frustrating, but it really
Speaker:shows the difference between how humans approach it
Speaker:and how an AI assist sales
Speaker:process could work. I have a friend who was helping a tanning
Speaker:salon and they were going crazy not
Speaker:understanding why they were giving away a free session lead
Speaker:magnet and it wasn't converting into higher ticket
Speaker:sales for the other things that they were offering. And
Speaker:they were just, you know, couldn't figure it out. So
Speaker:they hired a marketer who did some secret shopping and found
Speaker:out that the receptionist was answering the
Speaker:phone to book the free appointments and saying when the
Speaker:owner starts selling you all the upsell stuff, you
Speaker:don't need any of that. So all the money that the owner was
Speaker:putting out to generate leads, the
Speaker:reception was turning away the
Speaker:profit that that was meant to bring in.
Speaker:Many of us are familiar with loss leaders. We lose money on the
Speaker:sample a lot. We believe that a certain percentage of that is
Speaker:going to turn into business on the but not if the receptionist
Speaker:is saying you don't need any of that. Ouch. Painful
Speaker:way to Learn a human behavior lesson. She was
Speaker:uncomfortable with selling and didn't say that to the
Speaker:owner of course, but just did her own thing in the background.
Speaker:So all that money being spent was being killed by the front
Speaker:desk. So we put in some AI and some automation. The AI
Speaker:is s not afraid to do the upsells. It will follow up all
Speaker:the number of times that are needed. Consistent
Speaker:messaging, better conversion, a front desk that
Speaker:could focus on higher value tasks or
Speaker:something that they were already good at. Here's another part
Speaker:that owners often don't think about when they're moving into a
Speaker:sale. Automation helps you hit industry
Speaker:benchmarks, which are often hard to hit
Speaker:because benchmarks are saying this is how the
Speaker:business that is profitable and successful. These are the numbers
Speaker:that should be hitting. But a small business
Speaker:with and this is like up to 20 million that doesn't
Speaker:have some kind of AI and automation in
Speaker:place is gonna have a hard time hitting
Speaker:benchmarks. Buyers, consultants,
Speaker:valuation experts, they are all going to
Speaker:compare everything in your business to the
Speaker:benchmarks about your industry type. Speed
Speaker:delete. How fast are you responding? Client churn. Are
Speaker:people sticking around or leaving because of dropped balls?
Speaker:Review volume and quality things we've talked about on other
Speaker:podcasts. Operational consistency,
Speaker:cost of delivery. Are you overspending
Speaker:on products and supplies or human
Speaker:labor? When automation could streamline all of that
Speaker:profit margin, Are you dropping enough profit to the bottom
Speaker:line? You bit a whisperer T shirt on. Today it's
Speaker:all about do you create profit? Is
Speaker:there cash flow? And then things
Speaker:like cost to acquire a lead? They drastically
Speaker:drop when you add in AI and automation
Speaker:for your follow up. So the cost to acquire
Speaker:lead suddenly becomes way more affordable or
Speaker:the lifetime value of a customer that increases
Speaker:when you add in AI and automation.
Speaker:When you know about the statistics about
Speaker:people want what they want right now, the humans are
Speaker:rarely available right now to do it. So
Speaker:AI and automation can give them what they need
Speaker:now, which increases lifetime value of the customer.
Speaker:It doesn't just help with one of these
Speaker:AI impacts, all of these and many, many more.
Speaker:These were just the first few that came up when I was
Speaker:outlining this. When you improve these numbers,
Speaker:you're not just growing revenue today, you're
Speaker:increasing valuation based on the
Speaker:business being able to create ebitda which increases your
Speaker:chances for a more successful sale more on your
Speaker:terms. Speed to response in this process
Speaker:is pretty much everything. So let's zoom
Speaker:in on one benchmark. Speed delete. Because
Speaker:that's where new people are looking for you and you're
Speaker:going to make more revenue, which leads ideally to more
Speaker:profit, which means more exit multiple
Speaker:90% of customers want an
Speaker:immediate response. Only 60% of
Speaker:those people define that as under 10
Speaker:minutes. Some people define that as less than
Speaker:five minutes. So 90%
Speaker:say immediate. That's somewhere between five and 10 minutes.
Speaker:And most small businesses responding in hours
Speaker:or days so they all get back to them after
Speaker:lunch. Doesn't work. You simply
Speaker:cannot meet this expectation on your
Speaker:own. No human could. Neither could your staff.
Speaker:What happens when you're slow? Even if you don't think you're
Speaker:slow, 90% want a full
Speaker:immediate response in between five and 10 minutes. So what
Speaker:happens when you're slow by those terms? You lose the lead.
Speaker:They're already googling your competitors, you're lowering your
Speaker:conversion rates, you miss the booking, you get
Speaker:worse reviews. And when you start asking for
Speaker:referrals? Crickets. So this
Speaker:is something to look at. If you aren't getting
Speaker:natural word of mouth in natural
Speaker:unsolicited referrals, it might be in
Speaker:how quickly you're following up or not following up,
Speaker:because that's a pretty tough definition to meet. It also means
Speaker:that you're not delivering the experience that makes people
Speaker:refer. So we go back to the review podcast that we
Speaker:already talked about. So staff burnout. They're
Speaker:part of this equation. The repetition
Speaker:of answering FAQs over and over and
Speaker:over, doing the same process over and over. The stuff
Speaker:robots can do, doing it over and over and over again. That
Speaker:leaves staff burnout. So let's talk about that in your
Speaker:team, they are human, they aren't robots. And
Speaker:humans get cranky when they're stuck doing the same thing over and over
Speaker:and over again. 67% of
Speaker:workers feel burnout from repetitive tasks. And burnout
Speaker:shows up as process resistance,
Speaker:poor tone with customers, a little ey rolly,
Speaker:low morale, certainly turnover. But AI
Speaker:never gets tired, never forgets, never
Speaker:forgets to do. The upsell never rolls its eyes. It
Speaker:just executes exactly as you tell it to,
Speaker:as many times as it needs to to get to the yes.
Speaker:And that's good for your customers and your team,
Speaker:because meaningful work drives retention
Speaker:and culture, which clients are then further
Speaker:drawn to. So here's the flip side of the
Speaker:repetition problem. Employees who say that their
Speaker:work feels meaningful are are
Speaker:69% less likely to leave within
Speaker:six months, and they stay on average
Speaker:7.4 months longer.
Speaker:87% say recognition and
Speaker:connection to purpose and something that matters and is
Speaker:worthwhile is more important than
Speaker:compensation. So when you have
Speaker:Happy people who feel connected to the work and
Speaker:they feel like they're making a difference in the world. Not just ask
Speaker:answering FAQs and they stay longer.
Speaker:Guess what? They know the process, they know the system, they're more
Speaker:efficient, they know your regular customers, they can treat them
Speaker:special. So when we add in AI and automation,
Speaker:we can redirect the human capital to where it can
Speaker:make a huge difference in relationships.
Speaker:So when you automate low value repetitive
Speaker:stuff, your team gets to do the work that actually
Speaker:fulfills them, which creates more loyalty, more
Speaker:engaged brand ambassadors, basically. The
Speaker:other thing that this does is all these
Speaker:repetitive tasks that don't get done. We should
Speaker:do, we know we should. It would be important to do
Speaker:them. Things like updating credit card
Speaker:expiration dates, things like sending out
Speaker:disengagement letters like an attorney, they don't send
Speaker:those out and a new case comes in for the
Speaker:person they haven't disengaged, they might be on the hook for
Speaker:representing that person. So the letter's got toa go.
Speaker:Well, if we don't use AI in automation to do that
Speaker:and the employee says I'll do them tomorrow or I'll
Speaker:do them Friday when I come back, there's some risk,
Speaker:right? So what happens? The owner might
Speaker:do it at night during dinner, or
Speaker:miss the kids ball game or whatever because they don't want the risk
Speaker:and the employee went home. So these
Speaker:boring, repetitive things can all be
Speaker:given to AI and happen right
Speaker:now just the way they should. Decrease risk,
Speaker:increase loyalty, increase engagement and have a better
Speaker:client experience and employee experience. So
Speaker:here's some objections I know you're going to have for me. And
Speaker:here's some truth bombs to knock those objections right
Speaker:down. My business is unique. I can't tell you how many times
Speaker:I've heard that. Sure, but it doesn't mean that your
Speaker:intake process, your FAQs and your follow
Speaker:up are. There's something in your process that's
Speaker:pretty much all the same. Automation handles
Speaker:the repeatable part so you can focus on the special
Speaker:sauce. Okay, here's a great one. Clients want me.
Speaker:They won't buy anybody else. They won't work with anyone
Speaker:else. Okay, maybe. But the research shows they
Speaker:want a fast, responsive,
Speaker:predictable experience. Even more. The
Speaker:data supports that. Remember the 90% in under 10
Speaker:minutes. You can't do everything in under 10
Speaker:minutes. So maybe you keep the older
Speaker:clients who are trained to be only with you and
Speaker:you slowly start introducing team. But the new
Speaker:clients need to not get you. And the data
Speaker:shows that people Would rather get what they
Speaker:need now even from AI, then
Speaker:wait two days to hear back from anybody personally. Okay,
Speaker:here's the next one. I've tried automation, I've tried the
Speaker:systems, I've tried that. It was super clunky, was too hard to learn.
Speaker:Every day this stuff gets better. Every few seconds this
Speaker:stuff gets better. But what I would say is that was
Speaker:then, this is now. Today's systems are
Speaker:literally drag and drop easy. And in my
Speaker:case, for my clients, we just do it for you.
Speaker:And we back this with 24.
Speaker:7 human support to help people implement
Speaker:fast and keep going. So to get over the tech
Speaker:fear of things and automation is impersonal.
Speaker:Okay, I want you to go download by lead
Speaker:magnet and listen to the voice demo in the lead
Speaker:magnet because you will hear real calls
Speaker:that sound exactly like well trained humans.
Speaker:Most people are shocked that it's AI. The other day
Speaker:I was writing some stuff and the AI said to
Speaker:me, do you want to take a break so that I can get a Red
Speaker:Bull? Just kidding. AI doesn't need
Speaker:Red Bulls. So AI can
Speaker:really personalize the experience for your incoming
Speaker:clients and for you. Here's the big picture. Freedom,
Speaker:growth or exit. Whether your goal is to work
Speaker:fewer hours, travel more, make it home for
Speaker:dinner, tell more bedtime stories, or sell your
Speaker:business, or just stop being the one that holds it all together,
Speaker:AI and automation is the
Speaker:tool that can help get you there. It gives you
Speaker:time, scalability, brand consistency,
Speaker:consistent voice, better staff, happier
Speaker:clients, higher profit, which all of that leads
Speaker:to a more valuable business. You don't have to disappear and
Speaker:stay gone overnight. You just have to start stepping
Speaker:back. I remember when my client Rosie said to
Speaker:me, we had just started working together and she
Speaker:said, now when can we take a vacation? Is that in
Speaker:about two years? And I said, no, I'm all about
Speaker:happy, healthy, wealthy and whole
Speaker:entrepreneurs. And no, now that you've said
Speaker:that, you've got to go away, at least for the weekend, right
Speaker:away. And so she was scared, so she took a short
Speaker:road trip. She lives in Southern California, so she
Speaker:went to Palm Springs for the weekend. She was definitely
Speaker:scared to leave for a weekend, so she wanted to be
Speaker:within driving distance. She texted me over the weekend and sent
Speaker:me pictures and she said it's great to be making money from
Speaker:the cabana. The team in the process has it handled.
Speaker:So no, you should not wait two more years to take a
Speaker:vacation. Yes, you should be coming to dinner, having it hot
Speaker:with your family. Stop missing out on the things that matter. That's actually
Speaker:the reason I do what I do is to help people stop
Speaker:missing the moments that matter. So you don't have
Speaker:to disappear overnight and stay gone forever. But you do
Speaker:have to start stepping back. So here's what I want you to do.
Speaker:Download the free guide the seven ways to incorporate AI
Speaker:into your business. Today you'll get actionable
Speaker:automation strategies plus access to my live demos
Speaker:where you can hear how AI actually
Speaker:sounds like a human and how efficient and effective it really
Speaker:is. And you can also take the changes assessment where
Speaker:you can see what a buyer would see if they were
Speaker:to assess your business and pinpoint the
Speaker:places where you can make the changes now to have
Speaker:better outcomes now and later. Both links are in the
Speaker:show notes. Here's the thing. You won't get
Speaker:to exit either for time and location freedom now or
Speaker:to sell the business later if you're still in the business. This
Speaker:is literally why only one in five
Speaker:businesses sell that get listed. The only way out
Speaker:is to become replaceable, not
Speaker:irrelevant replaceable. Because a business
Speaker:that runs without you, that's the one buyers fight to
Speaker:buy. That's the one that gives you the life you really
Speaker:want now and in the future. So thank you for
Speaker:joining today. I'd love for you to subscribe and share this
Speaker:episode with somebody you know needs to hear it. Thanks so much.
