5 steps to own your role as the CEO of your business

by Danielle Hayden

As a women business owner, I understand the ups and downs that we all experience in entrepreneurship. One minute we are flying high and the next we are down and out thinking that this business idea that we came up will never get to the next level. Over the past 15 years, as I moved from corporate accounting as a chief financial officer to working with women on their bookkeeping, I have seen so many women struggle to feel empowered and really own their role as founder and CEO of their business. I am here to tell you that you deserve it! You founded this company and now it’s time to grow your organization! But how you say? Let’s break this down for you in 5 steps that can help you move into your leadership role: 

1. Delegate-We CANNOT do it alone and that is OK! I give you permission to give yourself grace and ask for help. Help can look like this: 
   1. Consider outsourcing tasks that are not your specialty 
   2. Ask your team to work on additional tasks 
   3. Ask your family for help around the house
2. Set strategic goals-You need to know where you are going so you can measure your progress along the way. 

Use the following questions to guide your strategic goal setting: 

1. 1. What are my current tactics including sales, marketing, team and key partners?
   2. How am I remaining competitive in my industry? How is my company different? 
   3. What are my goals and milestones? Take time right now to write out your:
      1. 10 year target
      2. 3 year picture 
      3. 1 year plan 
      4. Where do you want to be in 3 months? 

• Work on your business not just in your business using daily ceo time

When I worked in corporate accounting we sent the CEO a series of daily reports to help keep her focused, and I use the same strategies in my business today. I call this process my daily CEO review. 

1. Daily-State your goal.  Ensure daily activities are connected to your desired result. Keep your goals top of mind.
   1. 1. Set your intentions daily. Where do you want to see your business go? 
      2. Magnetize your mind toward the goals you want to achieve. When you do this every day you signal to your subconscious mind that your thoughts, actions and decisions should be directed to that goal.
      3. Define what success means to your business. If you don’t determine what success looks like how will you know when you have arrived? 

1. Targets-Determine your top 3 priorities you need to accomplish that day to achieve your goal.
2. Plan your day! Use the daily schedule to plan your day
   1. 1. Determine what time of the day you are the most productive
         1. Do a self-analysis today and note when you felt you had the most energy and concentration. When did you have the fewest amount of interruptions and distractions? 
         2. Remember there is no right way here. Some people feel the most energy in the morning and will enjoy getting the most demanding tasks completed in the morning to have a sense of completion, and other people feel the most energetic at night and enjoy working against the pressure of the clock and their deadline.
      2. Group each of these tasks logically by the type of tasks. 
         1. Segment one: Phone calls
         2. Segment two: Client calls
         3. Segment three: Content generation
         4. Segment four: Training/Team meetings

1. Analyze your financials-Perform weekly financial checkups, a monthly financial review and a quarterly financial goal review. If you don’t review your books weekly, you can end up with bounced checks and overdue invoices. Then at the end of each quarter, review your bookkeeping and accounting records thoroughly. Look for trends such as an increase or decrease in sales.
   1. What percent did your revenue grow year over year?
   2. What percent did your expenses grow year over year? Why?
   3. Are your expenses growing faster than your revenue?
   4. Does your spending align with the goals you set for your business?
   5. What is the net amount of cash in/out of the business?

• Continuously learn and develop You cannot expect to grow your business if you are not growing as an individual. There are so many aspects to entrepreneurship, and you need to decide on one topic at a time and really dive in and learn. 

My challenge to you: Take the next 90 days and learn to love reviewing your numbers. I know it sounds crazy, but if you take one goal and one action step at a time you will feel empowered and confident in your business like you’ve never felt before. 

Get your profit planner today.

More great posts from Danielle:

1. How do I get out of accounting overwhelm?
2. Bookkeeping checklist-What do I need and when?
3. Learning to Overcome Challenges in collecting client payments