Kristen David, a former trial lawyer and partner who went from working 85 hours a week and barely making ends meet, built it up to a million-dollar-plus business, then sold her shares and pivoted into a business coach guru. She is now an international speaker, and bestselling author, and operates a successful coaching firm, empowering business owners to build thriving, profitable businesses that are self-managed with systems. She helps busy business owners build those systems by implementing policies and procedures the Fast Track Way. Learn more at www.uplevelingyourbusiness.com.
When you started your business, you probably did everything yourself or with a partner. You wore the marketing, sales, admin, tech, financial, and service hats – and for a bit, it worked.
But I feel confident in guessing that wearing all those hats for the next several years is probably not your goal. Instead, you want to shift into the position of being a successful business owner. What does that really mean, though?
It means being profitable (via the use of good financial controls). It means bringing in a steady stream of qualified potential clients (via your marketing and sales systems). And it means being able to focus on what really needs your attention by surrounding yourself with a great team and strong systems.
Let’s break those down a little further.
1. PROFITABLE
If you want your business to grow, profitability is key.
Some look at profit as a bad thing, but profit is what allows a business owner to reinvest in their business, add more staff, build stronger systems, and pay themselves.
Many business owners are bringing in sales, but they don’t have sound financial controls in place…and all their hard-earned money goes right back out the door.
I’ve had clients describe this situation as feeling like they’re on a hamster wheel – running all the time, but not getting anywhere. I’ve been there, and that’s exactly what it feels like to watch all the money you earn go to pay the monthly expenses, leaving nothing left over at the end of the month.
If you want to reach “Successful Business Owner” status, your first critical step is to take control of your financial controls.
2. THRIVING
Marketing and sales are pivotal to growing a stable and thriving business. Marketing has the job of bringing the right people to you, and this takes some work.
- Create a plan designed to attract a unique targeted audience.
- Once this plan is fleshed out, you’ll find that having Marketing Team members or a trusted agency to help you execute is key!
If you’re anything like me, you have 8 new ideas before you get out of the shower each morning. Being able to delegate the details with structured systems is essential. Bringing the right prospects in isn’t enough, though – you’ll also need to have a solid sales system that is scalable and repeatable by others on your team.
As a solopreneur, you get used to doing all the sales yourself…but in order to grow your business, you have to design a process that will equip others to do it for you. This means breaking down your method and developing scripts and other resources so you can hand the process over to others!
3. PRODUCTIVE
In order to make the move from solopreneur to successful business owner, you’ll need to develop systems that not only allow you to be productive, but also equip your team to do so!
On our journey as entrepreneurs, we are fortunate to work with many amazing individuals. Sometimes, those great people stay with us for the long run, but sometimes they move on to other opportunities and we have to hire new people to take their place. As you grow, you’ll find that certain roles will specialize and your team will expand to take on the additional work.
When this happens, it’s imperative to have those strong policies and procedures in place so you can quickly train your new superstars, giving you confidence that things will run the way you want them to. Successful business owners know that planning these elements out is essential so they can grow their business without the fear that it will come topping down upon them. A little planning goes a long way!
If you struggle with this element, find an experienced business coach who will help you map it out. A good sounding board can be one of your most useful tools for making the leap from solopreneur to successful business owner!
Cheers to your amazing growth!
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