Is your business great?

I recently read the latest shareholder letter from Warren Buffet to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway. In it he writes something to note:

“…if a business requires a superstar to produce great results, the business itself cannot be deemed great. A medical partnership led by your area’s premier brain surgeon may enjoy outsized and growing earnings, but that tells little about its future. The partnership’s moat will go when the surgeon goes. You can count, though, on the moat of the Mayo Clinic to endure, even though you can’t name its CEO.”

Here’s a good question to ask yourself to determine if your business is a great one: “Will your business endure if you or your star employee/figurehead is not there?”