Private Invitation · September intake#

From: Anthony Manly · Last updated August 5

[12 11 Spots Left. Applications close 5pm Friday, August 28.]

This is an invitation to work with me and my team to do one thing, get you off the line and out of the day-to-day so your business finally runs without you.

The goal is simple, in 12 weeks, we get you to the point where you can take four weeks off, no contact, and the business doesn't miss a beat. And it starts fast. In the first few weeks we buy you back at least 8 hours a week.

I'll give you everything you need to make that happen and nothing you don't. We build it together, from the ground up, with your team.

That's my mission, to help good founders build companies that pay them more and depend on them less and to scale without selling their soul.

I built Step Back from 20+ years of getting businesses, including my own, out of the day-to-day so they run without the owner.

I learned this inside businesses where the problem was too big to hide.

One of the big four Australian business banks was one of those places.

A business owner walks into a bank branch to borrow against a property. Forty days later they're still waiting and not because anyone said "no" it's because the file belonged to everyone and nobody as it moved between people who each did their part correctly and none of whom owned the outcome. Nobody was accountable for the answer, they were accountable for their piece.

We got it to ten days. Not by hiring anyone, and not by making anyone work harder. We put one team around the whole decision and made them own it end to end.

Same disease at Toll. I moved 200 applications into Team Global Express while the business they belonged to stopped existing. Which is, roughly, what you're being asked to do to yourself.

Both were the same problem you've got decisions queuing behind people who don't own the outcome. In your business the file belongs to one person instead of nobody and that person is you.

The fix is the same. It's just faster in a business your size, because you don't need eleven committees to agree to it.

This is a brand-new program, and I'm deliberately keeping the first round small. That's the point of the Founding Cohort where you get in early, at the founding price, and you become one of the first Step Back case studies.

In March I took Martin through a pilot version of the program. He owns an AI Consultancy, and he'd built it the way you'd expect a good consultant to. Nothing went to a client that he hadn't checked, the contract was his name and his reputation. In two months we installed the Step Back operating system, with his team, in his business.

He's out of the day-to-day now and has been since May. What he has instead is a dashboard where he can see what's been delivered, what's at risk, what the team decided without him. He's not in the work. He can see the work. The proof I've got is enterprise proof. The proof I want is yours.

The method isn't new, it's how good businesses have always been built to run without their founder. What's new is that I'm taking a handful of founders through it, with me, step by step.

It could be you.

So what's the plan?#

Over 12 weeks, we install a custom operating system that runs your business without you, in three stages, nine accelerators. We start with a 1-on-1 Game Plan session (your 90-day goals, your 3-Year Target, where you want to end up), and run the 9-Constraint Scorecard to find the single constraint keeping you on the line right now.

Then, working with you and your leadership team we work through the following stages

Stage 1: Get Free™ #

From owning every decision to a clear map of what stays with you and what doesn't.

We map how your business creates value, surface every decision running through you, and pinpoint your biggest bottleneck and hand you back your first 8+ hours a week.

→ Your toolkit: the 9-Constraint Scorecard · the Value Engine Map · the Decision Map.

Stage 2: Get Clear™ #

From fighting every fire → knowing who's accountable before it hits your desk.

We assign one clear owner for every area, install accountability, and build a metrics-based Scorecard — so your team spots and solves problems before you even hear about them.

→ Your toolkit: the Ownership Tracker · the Accountability Chart · the Team Scorecard template.

Stage 3: Get Out™#

From running everything → one page you check daily. We roll it into one CEO Dashboard your team keeps current, set the operating rhythm, and lock the whole system in one place.

→ Your toolkit: the CEO Dashboard template · the Cycle Run-Log · the System Lock (your OS in one home).

Time commitment: just 90 minutes a week. Your team does the build between sessions this isn't extra work, it gives you back more time than it costs.

By the end of the 12 weeks you take the Vacation Test, four weeks off, no contact, and the business runs. You've gone Doer → Manager. You've stepped back.

(Hint - even if you only installed two of the three stages, you'd feel the difference in your week within a month.)

What happens after the 12 weeks#

Here's the honest part, Step Back is a complete program on its own. In 12 weeks you're off the line, with your time back and a business that runs without you. For a lot of founders, that's the whole win and you can stop right there.

But once you're off the line, most want the next thing, a business that doesn't just run without them, but grows without them and could one day sell for a premium. That's Phase 2, Scale & Exit and it's there when you're ready. Entirely optional, and a decision for after you've stepped back. Nothing to decide today.

Now — a few questions you probably have…#

Who is this for?#

• Founder-led service businesses on pace for [$1M+], still running through the owner.
• You already get results for happy clients — a business worth systemising.
• You've got a team (even a small one) and can commit 90 minutes a week.
• You want out of the day-to-day — not just more revenue.
• You've tried EOS, Scaling Up, or a COO hire — and nothing stuck.

Not for you if: you're pre-revenue, a solo operator with no team to step back to, you want revenue more than your life back, or you'd rather be at the office than anywhere else.

Where & when?#

We're enrolling the September founding cohort now. Once you're in, we book your Game Plan session and Week 1 begins. It's a 1 on 1 session, done with you and your team.

What support do I get?#

Direct, personal guidance from me and my team the whole way. You bring one or two senior team members so they're on the calls and can help build the system which means the handoffs land because they were in the room from Day 1.

You also get access to a private group with me throughout the 12 weeks. I'll review artefacts before you implement them and answer questions as they come up. All session recordings available indefinitely.

You're never left guessing.

How much time do I need?#

90 minutes a week, plus your team doing the build between sessions. That's it and it's designed to give you back far more time than it takes, starting in the first few weeks.

Here's what the 12 weeks looks like week by week

• One 90-minute group call per week
• One 30-minute pod call (your team attends)
• Roughly 90 minutes shipping that week's artefact by your team
• Three hours total per week.

That's twelve weeks. After which you'll have a complete, locked operating system built with your team, tested with your business, and proven in the real world.

What's the investment?#

Step Back is the entry to everything we do, it's a program that replaces the kind of senior operator you'd pay $150k+ a year for (except a hire inherits your chaos this removes it).

Because this is a Case-Study cohort and the first time Step Back has been available outside of private advisory, the founding investment is $300/week well below where it'll sit once these case studies are in. Standard pricing for later rounds will be $600/week.

And the goal we set ourselves is to make it effectively free inside the first 30 days, from the hours we hand back and the wins we stack.

Is there a guarantee?#

Two of them.

1. 14-day peace of mind. Jump in, sit in a session or two, see how we work. If it's not for you, tell us inside 14 days and we'll refund you in full no questions.
2. The results guarantee. If you show up and do the work over the 12 weeks and you're not off the line at the end, we don't walk away we keep working with you, at no extra cost, until you are.

So there's no real risk to getting started.

Any bonuses?#

Yes, for the founding cohort:

• Bonus 1 - The Critical Task Audit. A short session that finds and hands back your first 5+ hours a week before we even kick off.
• Bonus 2 - The Step Back Toolkit & Templates. Every worksheet, map, scorecard and dashboard template + GPTs, done, ready to fill in.
• Bonus 3 - The Founder's First-90-Days Plan. Your 3-Year Target broken into an executable 90-day sprint you keep running after the program.

How to get a spot#

If you've read this and you're a fit, here's how to begin:

STEP 1: [Apply here]([APPLICATION LINK]) — it's short, about 2 minutes.

STEP 2: We'll review it personally and, if it's a fit, book your Gameplan Call where we'll find the one constraint keeping you on the line right now and map your plan to get off. Even if we're not a fit, you'll leave that call with the plan.

STEP 3: We add you to the Kick-off call, and Week 1 begins.

That's it.

Let's make this the year you stop being the bottleneck and step back.

To your success

Anthony Manly