Being your own business owner is so much different than having a job or even having a high-level job because of one main reason: everything starts and stops with you. You’re the one that makes the decisions, you’re the one that runs the business, and you’re the one that ultimately makes the decisions.
It can be really difficult for people to make this transition, so today I want to talk about three things you can do to help you transition into becoming a CEO and grow a long-term, sustainable business for yourself.
Understand What You Should Do
As a CEO, you need to understand the things that you should be doing on an everyday basis. Now, when you first start your business, chances are you’ll be doing everything unless you happen to get funding or have the money handy to hire people right away. If you do, that’s great . . . however, most people don’t have this starting out.
As your business starts to grow, however, and you start making money, it’s really important to know the things long-term that you and only you can do. For me, these is things like:
Doing the podcast (but not editing it)
Being on my coaching calls
Going to networking events
Doing sales calls
Now, these are the things that I thrive in/need to do/simply like to do, but everyone’s list could be different. You could ideally hire other coaches to do your coaching calls and your sales calls. I enjoy doing these things and the 1-1 time I get with my clients, so for me, things are things I want to be doing.
The main goal for you is to figure out what these 3-5 main things are that you’re going to be doing now, and more importantly, in the future. As you grow, you want to know the things you HAVE to be doing because it makes it easier to then know the things you should delegate.
Understand What You Shouldn’t Do
This brings me to point number two which is knowing what things you shouldn’t be doing. In my opinion, too many business owners spend way too much time in their business doing things that they simply have no business doing, for many reasons. The main one is it’s not what they’re good at, which means they aren’t doing it well when they could simply hire an expert and get far better results.
Here are things that I currently hire out for:
Social Media
Website Maintenance
Podcast Editing
Finances
Legal
These are just a few things, but you get the idea. You should be spending approximately 13-15% of your gross revenue on marketing, which means if you’re not doing this, chances are you’re trying to do it yourself. If you want your business to grow to that next level, you need to re-invest back into it.
The same goes for having a lawyer and doing your taxes. Do you want your business to be a priority and legitimate? Then you need to treat it that way! So many business owners THINK they can handle everything, and maybe they can . . . but then they end up getting below-average results in these areas because it’s not their expertise.
Stop doing things you’re not great at, and hire people that are. When my business grew the most was when I took all of these things off my plate so that I could simply focus on getting more clients. My business literally grew tenfold in a month because I wasn’t bogged down by all these other things.
Prioritize The Important Things
When it comes to the things you have to do, they aren’t all equal in value. What I mean is that there are probably 1-2 things that are the most important thing(s) you should be doing every single day because they are what makes your business run.
Mine two are simple: they’re to find more clients for my coaching business and deliver great results to the clients that I currently have. That’s it. If I don’t have clients to coach, I don’t have a business. Knowing this, I wake up every day and these two things are the first things I prioritize during my day.
Now ask yourself: what are the 1-2 things I need to be doing first every single day to ensure that my business not only continues to run but also thrives in the future? When you know those 1-2 things, you now know what you should be starting your day with.
Being a CEO isn’t easy, but knowing these three things will help you get your business started, keep you focused on what’s important, and allow you to scale your income so that you can start to take some of the tasks off your plate you shouldn’t be doing.
If you need help in your business when it comes to processes, scaling, or learning exactly how to be an efficient CEO, then let’s talk! Grab a FREE, 30-minute call HERE, and let’s see how we can help you become that CEO you always imagined!