The obvious cost
The owner spends expensive hours on tasks someone else could do.
The hidden cost
The team waits, customers wait, jobs wait, and the business cannot move faster than the owner's attention.
The valuation cost
A buyer or successor sees risk when the business depends on one person for sales, operations, approvals, and customer relationships.
Field note
Owner dependence has a real price
It shows up as staff waiting, customers waiting, jobs pausing, decisions stacking up, and the owner doing work that someone else could handle with the right rule or rhythm.
The value issue is even bigger. A buyer or successor discounts a company when the owner is the system.
Turn the question into evidence
The right next step is to compare what the owner feels against what the numbers, workflow, team, and customer cycle show.