Today I want to challenge you to look at how you are choosing to run your business. The reason I use the word “choosing” is because I think a lot of us know the types of things we need to be doing in our business but we are choosing not to do them.

The reason might be the stories we’re telling ourselves like – I’m not good at that, I’m not good with numbers, I’m not good with sales and marketing, I’m not good with tech – whatever it is that you’re telling yourself you need to step back and really reflect on whether you have business habit that are helping or hindering the growth of your business.

So the question is…. Are you running your business like a business? – what does that mean? If you were chatting with a business owner or CEO and they said:  we don’t do any marketing, we don’t have a sales plan, we’re not sure what our numbers are when it comes to customers, metrics or cash, we just do whatever happens every day and see where we go.

Would you think that the person was serious about the business or would you think that maybe they could steer the ship a big more?

Don’t get me wrong I’m not asking you to judge someone else, I’m asking you to reflect on what you think good looks like?

So I thought you know something, let’s go and take a look at a few job descriptions of CEO’s on Seek job site to see what their role is and what companies are looking for and I found a CEO job for a drinks company that said:

THE ROLE

The CEO will play a pivotal role in driving the organisation to becoming a leader in their category globally, transforming into one of the most effective sales and marketing organisations in their category, and the world of Australian food and drink brands.

The role will involve:

• Leadership of the executive team including Operations, Sales, Marketing, E Commerce, Events, Finance, HR
• Lead the transformation globally to drive a consumer first mindset
• Transform the company into a compelling consumer brand that resonates in US, Europe and Australian markets.
• Ensure the organisation’s values and mission are upheld.
• Provide the Board with accurate and timely reporting.
• Regular budget monitoring and profit and loss responsibility
• Build strong relationships with key external stakeholders including customers and suppliers

THE PERSON

• Had full P&L responsibility
  
• Experienced in championing consumer insights into meaningful outcomes
• Sales and Marketing functional experience
• Can inspire and bring an energetic and transformative leadership style
• Agile and entrepreneurial

WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?

• Attractive remuneration package and incentive scheme
• The opportunity to create a global brand
• Agile, entrepreneurial culture with global mindset
• Resources for deep investment in international growth

SO LET’S DIVE INTO WHAT IT TAKES FOR YOU TO STEP INTO BEING THE CEO IN YOUR BUSINESS:

We’re going to use this job ad because as someone who’s been in recruitment forever I really like this ad, it’s the prefect mix of inspiration, aspiration and hard business skills and just to credit it, I found this on seek on the 24^th September by Six Degrees which I think is a search firm.

1. THE CEO WILL PLAY A PIVOTAL ROLE IN DRIVING THE ORGANISATION TO BECOMING A LEADER IN THEIR CATEGORY

What are you doing to become a leader in your field or category?  In the last two episodes and to be honest in a lot of other episodes I’ve share what it takes to be a thought leader, to build a connected brand, to stand out in your market.  But is this something that you’re thinking about? Is it something that you want?

If you’re saying – well I don’t want to be leader, my questions is, what do you think leader means?  It doesn’t mean that you have to be the biggest. It doesn’t mean that you have to speaking on stages – it means that you are sort after and that you are known as one of the best.

I can guarantee you that I’m definitely working toward this.  So how are you playing a pivotal role in driving your business to become a leader? 

Having a clear brand strategy and understanding where you want to position yourself and what you want to be known for is a good place to start.

2. ARE YOU CREATING EFFECTIVE SALES AND MARKETING CHANNELS FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

I talk about really stepping up and how you can do that in Brand Builder’s Academy with my community. What activities are you consciously implementing based on your constant learning.  I was watching new marketing videos on YouTube the other day and I’m reading about 4 different branding and business books at the moment too. 

Now you don’t need to do that – I just love learning, but you do need to work out how you’re going to teach yourself some of the things you may not know or that you want to get better at.  If you’re telling yourself that you’re not good at sales and marketing or that you don’t like it then you’re going to struggle in your business – because no matter what people say, there is always an element of sales and marketing, and yes you build a brand and following and yes they want what you have but just like I always say with Gorman – they have all that but they are still marketing their stuff their customers so that we know what they have, when they have it and how we can get it.

3. LEADERSHIP OF OPERATIONS, SALES, MARKETING, ECOMMERCE/WEBSITE, EVENTS, FINANCE & HR

This is like your base line. The operations are the workings of the business on a day to day basis. Do you have a clear idea of what you’re working towards and what you’re doing for your clients but also for your own business?

Do you have a plan or a strategy for what you’re working towards.  Once again this is something I teach in BBA and go deeper into and I’m consistently trying to shift the perception that this is a big task.  It’s not a big task, but it’s a focused task. It’s a task that you learn how to do and then it’s a skill you have forever.

4. LEAD THE TRANSFORMATION GLOBALLY TO DRIVE A CUSTOMER FIRST MINDSET

How are you developing your customer experience? I’m reading Brand Hustle by Troy Mckinna at the moment which I’m loving for any Branding geeks out there and on page 169 of the book he says:  “The real secret to being remarkable is finding a deep consumer problem, solving it with a unique and valuable solutions, connecting it to an emotional experience and amplifying it with distinct and loud voice.”

I love this more than I can tell you because that is it in a nutshell.  I’m just going to say it again because I think that things sink in more when you hear them more than once –

“The real secret to being remarkable is finding a deep consume problem, solving it with a unique and valuable solutions, connecting it to an emotional experience and amplifying it with distinct and loud voice.”

So how are you creating great customer experiencing? How are you solving your customer’s problems? 

My customers are women in business who want to step up as the CEO but they don’t know how to. My customers are the women in business who want to learn how to create the right business structure, strategies and systems to scale.

My customers are the action takers with the big dreams who want to succeed but also understand that they have to learn key business skills along the way.

My customers are the ones that want to bold and stand out and have a unique voice.

So what are the experiences that I’m creating for them?  You have to understand who your customer is and not just a woman between the age of 35-44 with a service based business looking for a copywriter.  You need to get deep into their desires for themselves, their businesses, their families – whatever it is.  

When  you create you need a customer first mindset.

5. TRANSFORM THE COMPANY INTO A COMPELLING CONSUMER BRAND THAT RESONATES IN

So what does Compelling really mean:  The meaning that comes up when I Google it is:

evoking interest, attention, or admiration in a powerfully irresistible way.
not able to be refuted; inspiring conviction.
not able to be resisted;

So how are you evoking interest in what you do and how you do it?

How are you attracting attention and admiration for what you do?

Are you creating a powerfully irresistible product, service or brand?

Really thinking about these words and how you can do more of that is super important.  I honestly think that it’s only when we spend the time to think more deeply about our customers and their problems that we can come up with compelling words, messaging, products and services that really speak to them.

Mckinna also talks about creating lasting, vivid and detailed memories for our customers and that helps us create a compelling brand.

What stories are you telling yourself? 

I want you to take time to write this down.  If you were to really think about what the key things are that you have to do in your business but you’re not doing then ask yourself why you’re not doing that and then ask yourself what are the stories I’m telling myself when it comes to that task.

6. ENSURE THE ORGANISATION’S VALUES AND MISSION ARE UPHELD.

I’ve talked about this recently but having your vision, mission and values being a living breathing thing in your business that you look at and are connected to every day in your business.

7. ACCURATE AND TIMELY REPORTING.

I’m going to say – provide yourself with accurate and timely reporting.

So my hubby (bless him) sends me a report every month on where my traffic is coming from, what’s work and what’s not. After listening to Karlie on the podcast in episode 66 we are now looking broken links, time on site, bounce rate and site speed as some of our reporting metrics.

If I’m running paid aids, then looking at cost per lead and then conversion rate is important as well as you don’t want to just be throwing money away if things aren’t working for you.

8. ARE YOU RUNNING YOUR FINANCIAL REPORTS EVERY MONTH OR QUARTER?

If you aren’t then why not?  Is it because you don’t know how or you don’t have the software or you can’t be bothered?

Running your financial reports means you can work out how to change your strategy each year to increase your revenue but if you don’t know what’s going on then that’s a hard thing to do.

I have a financial goal at the beginning of each financial year and that’s what drives my business, brand and marketing strategy.  It means I know how much I’ll need to dedicate to my marketing budget if I’m looking to 10x it.

9. BUILD STRONG RELATIONSHIPS WITH KEY EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS INCLUDING CUSTOMERS AND SUPPLIERS

Who are you building relationships with. I was sharing on one of my webinars that working out who you can connect with, collaborate with and building relationships with in your business can be a key part of your growth strategy.

Who are you working with or bringing into the business to support you to stay in your zone of genius and run things for you?

The great thing is that when you decide to step up into this role the benefits are pretty amazing:

• You get to grow your business with real purpose and focused effort
• If you grow your business you can give your employee (you) a pay rise
• You get to grow a global or just really powerful brand
• You feel the satisfaction of learning how to create strategies that work