For some, steady income and stability within their home-based business is enough. For others, the desire to build a company bubbles away, keeping them awake at night. CEO thinking, leadership, implementation of strategic marketing, and becoming financially literate is critical in the pursuit of leveraged and sustainable success beyond the realms of the bedroom office.
Let’s discuss the 2 essential ingredients required to transform your home-based business from the inside out in Q3:
Know Your Financial BluePrint
A business that moves from the bedroom to the boardroom, has a financially literate CEO at the helm. This means they have the ‘know-how’ to make sound financial decisions that steer their business in the direction of steady growth. With a recession already hitting many countries globally in the wake of the Pandemic, uncertain economic times are set to continue in the coming few years. Cassie Kramer, suggests that Q3, 2023 is the time to get honest with yourself and where your business is at.
“We need to be honest with ourselves. We need to be honest about how we feel around money. Does it scare us? Do we have a hard time holding on to it? Is the idea of spending money something that empowers you or gives you anxiety?
That honesty helps us to understand our Financial Blueprint, the state beyond the neutrality in which we were born in relation to finances. As we grow, we have various influences that impact our financial blueprint. Our parents, what we watch on TV, our friends, school teachers, coaches, etc…
That blueprint not only determines how we’ll manage our finances, but also our business and its growth/success.”
According to Cassie every business owner who wants to step into greater levels of leadership has got to know the basics like: How to read financial statements, what goes on a Profit & Loss report and why?, what is a Balance Sheet and why is it important? What is forecasting and why can that help your business? “If you don’t already know those answers, partner with a great bookkeeper and/or tax professional. They’ll walk you through everything. And as an added bonus your bookkeeper is a tax deduction for your business!”
As Dan Sullivan and Dr Benjamin Hardy say it best in their book Who, Not How: “You don’t have to know EVERYTHING. Just find the people who know what you don’t and let them do what they do best.”
“I know it can be challenging to let go and trust them to do their job. However, this is their zone of genius, this is what they trained to be masterful in, you didn’t.”
Lastly, understand that where your business sits financially in year 3 is going to be very different from year 5. As you grow your financial management and systems will also need to change and adjust. Don’t fight those adjustments. Trust your financial team and their suggestions.
Raise Your CEO Self Concept
To flourish as a CEO you need the ability to flex, adapt, evolve your communication skills in the moment, adopt fresh perspectives and be willing to innovate to meet the changing economic climate. If Q3 is calling you to step up, Marketing and Business Coach, Melissa Kellogg Lueck, MBA has got the guidance you need!
“Many women I talk to characterize themselves as “bad at business” or “bad at marketing.” Yes, these parts of being an entrepreneur may be challenging or uncomfortable and undesirable but characterizing yourself as “bad” at it doesn’t help you get better. Be careful what you call yourself.”
CEO’s have a solid self concept, meaning how you think about yourself as that business owner, entrepreneur, and leader. Adopting the courage to get vulnerable with yourself, to take ownership of where you may be letting yourself and your vision down is essential. Take a moment here, to observe how you currently think about yourself in that role you desire to claim?
“Growing your confidence in your CEO capabilities is a journey of small steps. Small steps that require consistent growth in your self-concept, your confidence, and your decision making skills.”
Practice the following small steps to increase your self concept this Quarter:
1. Taking bolder, more decisive action: Learning how to start trusting yourself and having your own back more often is an essential flex of any CEO.
“Begin by asking yourself and journaling on how you will know you’re 100% bold or decisive? What do bold and decisive CEO’s think? How is she feeling? How is she behaving when it comes to her decisions and actions she takes? From this information, ask yourself if there are any small first steps you can take now regarding a specific situation you are facing.
Decide on those small steps, take the action and celebrate and learn from the outcome.”
2. Build intimacy to quit fearing failure: As a small business growing into a Company you have the power that big corporations don’t — the ability to personally connect with your people.
Having those conversations with your people, getting curious about what they see that you don’t and their desires for how you could evolve to better serve them, creates a level of safety between you and the bold decisions you want to make to improve the Company.
“When you make it safe for yourself to make bold moves and take decisive action, you become less afraid to fail. And those who are willing to explore their creativity, try lots of ideas, and fail at most of them are the ones that achieve their goals the quickest. Believe me, I’ve tried it both ways and business is so much more fun when I know I trust myself, I’m safe to be creative, try new things, fail and succeed.”
3. “You don’t start at ZERO every month!”
“When our monthly revenue ebbs and flows, it can be jarring for our nervous system and it is also normal! Instead of beginning each new month at zero, keep a running tally of your monthly revenue (or track revenue on a 12-month basis) and begin each month from where you left off.”
Running a sound business asks the CEO to know the numbers, it also asks you to hold the vision, let yourself play in the realms of possibility. Go there frequently. “And allow yourself to be proud of your progress! You’ll get so much further and feel so much better in your business when you are recognizing and celebrating your growth rather than your shortcomings.”
