Small business best practice Archives - Page 2 of 2

Grow your business with a CEO mindset

by VersatileMarketing | Goal Setting, Outsourcing, Small business best practice

CEO mindset: Vision with action is the key to growth

Starting a business takes grit and determination. As time passes, many business owners focus on automation and efficient systems implementation. Business begins to flow smoothly, which is awesome! A smooth-running engine can feel adequate. It can be tempting to rest on your laurels and continue as you always have. However, a CEO wouldn’t stop there. CEO mindset is what sets the most successful entrepreneurs and business owners apart from the rest!

Assuming you want your business to grow, your mindset is key. So, let’s take a look at CEO mindset and what practical tweaks you can produce today, (no matter if you’re in your first year of business or a well seasoned business), to transform into tomorrow’s successful outcomes.

Beliefs and behaviours of an effecive CEO

When I think back to my previous corporate life. There are certain thought patterns, beliefs and behaviours each CEO displayed. Traits like:

Strategic decision-making
Being a visionary rather than being bogged down in the nitty gritty daily operations
Strong communication skills
Realistic optimism
Brilliant listening skills
Reading people effectively
A willingness to take calculated risks.
Understanding the value the business produces

Here are a few practical ways you can introduce a CEO mindset for your small business.

Vision and mission

Have a Vision and plan of what you want to achieve, and how you’re planning to achieve it. Your mission statement is a perfect starting block.

But what is a Mission / Vision Statement?

It’s a summary of an organisations core purpose, focus and goals. While the mission is the ‘what’ and ‘how’, the vision statement is the ‘why’.

Combined, they should be a guiding beacon supporting you as an owner in all areas of your business. From sales pitches, to social media marketing, to the way you engage with your customers or clients. If you’re consistently making decisions inline with your ultimate goals, it will assist with developing a strong brand and differentiate you from your competition.

Your mission statement should also guide all those who join your organisation when it begins to scale. From contractors to employees at all levels. As author Simon Sinek said,

People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

As the CEO is the ultimate decision maker, when it comes to setting a company’s vision. It’s important to plan ahead. Where do you want to be in five, ten, or 15 years? A CEO will consider all stakeholders, and have a clear understanding what enables the business to generate value.

Planning

Set aside time to plan out your vision and mission – long-term planning. Regularly block off time in your calendar and mark it ‘planning’, this is important for the success and health of your business. Then you can batch plan your quarterly blogs and socials. You know you can market yourself online, to build your brand, but unless you know your long-term goals, these approaches may not be well aligned.

Continuous learning and development

Focus on learning new skills and mindset approaches, as Jim Rhon shares:

Everyday stand guard at the door of your mind.

So, read or study and then apply that to your business or personal life which will in turn positively impact your business.

Mentor

CEOs rely on subject matter experts to advise them on vital company information, data and issues. They often have a team of advisors and need to report to a Board of Directors to remain accountable and provide guidance. CEO mindset: Consider how you too could benefit from a business advisor, accountability partners and subject matter experts to guide you in various areas of the business.

Physical movement and mindset work

Tony Robbins, is someone I admire, he uses deep practice incantations, along with physical movement to ensure he is in the right headspace. He says

…the more you do something with focus, trying to do it as well as you can, you [build up the fatty layer of insulation around your nervous system called myelin] in your brain.

This will enable your focus and positive attitudes to be sustained.

Robbins also practices mindfulness techniques. For example, saying 3 things he’s grateful for that day. Whilst the incantations are still a work in progress for me, the gratitude statements have formed part of my daily routine, and I am better for it. Who inspires you? And how can you learn from them to continuously develop and grow?

Upskill

Staying focused on continuous learning and development, for example how to coach employees effectively. This skill is so important as when eventually, the business grows to a point where you must learn to manage the people who manage systems and processes, you will be prepared and ready to become a genuine CEO. So as a business owner, be flexible and adaptive to learn new skills as your role changes.

Systemise and outsource

CEOs look to the future. So why not implement processes and systems that will be needed in the future? If you only focus on the here and now, you may end up with only short-term plans and results, but lacking business direction.

So introduce a company handbook, even if it’s just you! Or have an outsourcing strategy before you’re ready to outsource. Set up your processes and procedures, with the mindset someone will need to use them one day, hopefully soon!

You can have a CEO mindset no matter what stage you are at in your business. Whether you’re about to launch or a well seasoned business owner. Focus on one area at a time and put your CEO hat on. For example, for my business, I’ll own up! I’ve been neglecting my financial management. Which we can all agree is far from ideal for a small business owner. While my accountant is not concerned, as I’m following the compliance requirements. I haven’t paid enough attention to doing it well and efficiently, because I don’t know HOW to do it well, and I don’t LOVE doing it. So I’ve avoided it.

I’m currently using a free accounting software, why? Because it’s intuitive and everything I need for now. But … while it does suit my business as it stands at this moment, fast-forward 2 years, or possibly even 6-12 months, and it’s unlikely to be sustainable. Its free features are incredible, but it also means some processing requirements are more cumbersome and consequently time-consuming.

To put my CEO mindset hat on, I know I need to look at the current issues and the future, I need to:

Source and receive training from a tax agent or book keeper who is familiar with this software, how to set it up properly, so it’s compliant and simple to report to ATO.
Look and plan for the future. I intend to grow the business, this software will soon not be fit for my business. So, I’m researching and seeking guidance on the best financial software systems for my business and budget for the next 5 years.
Take steps to learn bookkeeping for my business. Not because it is a service, I want to offer my clients. But because it is a skill as a small business owner, that I need to know!
Know how to administer it myself, so I can make educated decisions and clearly define the tasks required.
Outsource it to a bookkeeper with aligned business ethics, and effective communication skills.

Have a think about your business. What areas are you ready to learn about, or outsource or both?

Reduce stress

Finally, if you look at where the pressure is: assess how you can remove it?

Notice it, observe it with no judgement, not saying I’m a ‘failure” or ‘should’ instead step outside of yourself and assess what you need. What takes the pressure off for you? A holistic balance is a key ingredient for a happy and healthy business owner.

So actively partake in activities which reduce stress, help you stay centered, and keep you positively focused. Continuously learn new skills, simplify some areas, Batch plan your quarterly blogs and socials, outsource if needed. Plan ahead in alignment with your vision and mission, and act on those plans.

Need to talk about preparing your business to outsource, plan out your socials and blogs or outsource your digital content?

Contact Deb for a free chat.

Download your free copy of our seasonal, printable content calendar to assist you with batching your socials and blogs, so you can stay visible and aligned to your business vision for branding and messaging. You’ve got this!

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How to outsource like a pro to drive growth

by VersatileMarketing | Allied Health and Wellness Marketing, Outsourcing, Small business best practice

5 tips to help your business systemise and outsource

So you’ve decided it’s time to outsource your time-consuming business tasks and those projects as Marie Condo would say, that don’t ‘spark joy’.

You’re not alone, in Australia, numerous businesses are seeing the value in outsourcing significant parts of their work to online business services/outsourcing partners, as it brings in expertise from outside the business to assist with a specific project or manage a specific function, when required.

Outsourcing is an effective business strategy used by companies in all industries to run a cost effective and efficient business and is instrumental in business growth. However, for it to be effective, it’s important to do the groundwork first.

Here are 5 tips to help your business systemise and outsource like a pro.

1. Determine the tasks that you want to outsource

As a small business owner, you’re likely to be wearing many hats, to drive growth in your business, its vital you assess which tasks are not core to your business function, and systemise where possible and outsource the remainder. The first step is to record all the tasks which are NOT core to your business function.

You then need to assess which of these tasks take the most time to complete? Remember your time is money. The person you are hiring will, in most cases cost less per hour than you charge. By delegating the time-consuming tasks, you have allowed yourself the room to focus on your big picture business growth.

Next, write down at any tasks you don’t enjoy doing. If any tasks give you a sense of overwhelm or frustration, they should be outsourced, leaving you space to be a happier, healthier and more focused CEO.

Lastly, maybe there are tasks, which you actually enjoy doing and its not overly time-consuming, it may even be central to your business function, but you are now getting so busy you need an extra pair of hands now and then to help you out. Maybe you’re going away on holidays and need someone to hold down the fort? Sign up for our free template to help document your tasks.

2. Systemise your tasks

Before you outsource, assess if any tasks can be systemised. For example, if you are taking all the phone calls from prospect clients, diarising initial meetings and sending meeting invitations, consider using a booking system instead, e.g Calendly or Acuity. This allows your customers to book a meeting time which works best for them, (you’ve already set your available time), it will automatically place the booking into your calendar for you both, and can integrate with an online meeting tool like Skype or Zoom.

If you are emailing the same response to multiple customers, then set it up as an automated template. This can even be done using Gmail with canned responses. Use the systems you’re currently using and enhance them to work for you.

3. Document your processes

Once you’ve recorded all business tasks on a spreadsheet, document processes for all the tasks you intend to outsource. An easy way to do this to log in to Zoom and record yourself actually doing the task, it will record your voice your computer screen, then save it to a folder with a clear naming convention e.g.: ‘Business name_taskname_processes_year’.

Or contact Versatile Marketing and we can meet with you and document the processes for you.

4. Define the project scope clearly

To set up your outsourced project for success, always start with a clear statement of the outcome you want to achieve. Define your requirements clearly. Your outsource partner will need accurate complete information to provide a quality proposal covering requirements, time frame and cost.

Information to provide:

What is the process for the task (as above)?
What is the deadline or the priority for this task?
What documents, contacts, logins or other resources are needed to do the task?
Are there any risks or dependencies that may hold up task completion?

By relaying as much relevant and concise information as possible to your virtual assistant, you will increase clarity and accuracy and reduce overwhelm.

5. Build the trust – Start outsourcing with small tasks

In order to grow your business, outsourcing is essential. However, as a small business owner, you have a vested interest to provide the BEST service possible to your customers, so it can be daunting to trust someone to take on your work.

If you really want to grow as an entrepreneur, you’ve got to learn to delegate.

Richard Branson.

Outsourcing work to your marketing or virtual assistant involves trust they hold the same service and ethical values as you do. Using an outsourcing partner from your own country and background, with English as a first language and where you can validate references, or certifications with ease can help mitigate some of these concerns.

Consider doing a trial run with smaller tasks, before you make a long-term commitment. You will be able to ascertain if your outsource partner’s capabilities, communication and ethics are matched to your expectations and vice versa. Be prepared to put in time and effort to train and explain at the beginning, you won’t immediately have extra time but it won’t be too long before you will soon be reaping the benefits.

Open communication is key and as your business relationship evolves, provide feedback and solicit feedback from your outsource partner. Keeping an open line of communication is vital to ensure everyone is on the same page and expectations are being met on both sides.

Oursource your digital marketing tasks to Versatile Marketing

At Versatile Marketing, you can access customer centric, experienced marketing assistants and online business managers any time you need it, without the costs of having an employee. By staying focused on your core business function and outsourcing the rest, you can free up your time to get the balance back and scale your business.