Working in a business has its own set of challenges, but working in and owning that business is a whole different beast. If there’s one thing that has underpinned the success I’ve had as an entrepreneur, it’s not experience or skills. It’s my commitment to building a world class business and through that discipline, learning how to become a successful entrepreneur.
For your business to thrive, it’s critical for you to step into the CEO role, and this transition happens more quickly for some than for others. Some injectors open their doors and go from brand new to fully booked and building a team in months. Others may be running their side hustle for years before they develop the confidence to dive head first into their entrepreneurial journey.
There are three benchmarks that make this transition possible as you navigate how to become a successful entrepreneur. We’ll discuss them in this article:
- Emotionally preparing yourself for change
- Setting up your systems
- Becoming the best version of yourself
If these sound scary, don’t worry! In this blog post I’ll show you how to become a successful entrepreneur by disentangling yourself from day-to-day operations and other duties that might be holding you back from becoming the boss babe you’ve always dreamed of.
Make the transition from employee to CEO
I recently had a call with a Doctoral Nurse Practitioner injector who owned a multi-location medspa. She was experiencing painful staff turnover and wanted to talk about a strategy for rebuilding her organization. She felt vulnerable to competition, and the managerial aspect of running her business was burning her out. She didn’t want to lead people, she didn’t want to micromanage the day- to- day operations, and she certainly did not want to deal with staff hiring and firing.
I suggested to her that she do some work in our POP Aesthetic Leadership Academy, and invest in learning and implementing the five core business milestones to build a scalable and saleable business that can run independently. But, she didn’t want to invest the one hour per week into working on the business. In fact, she asked if she could put someone else in her company through our academy so she didn’t have to deal with it.
I’ve had several similar conversations with business owners who are either tired of running their business or who are tired of doing the thing they were most passionate about, like treating patients, because the burden of the business has become too overwhelming.
Does this sound familiar? Well, then it’s time to consider if you identify as an entrepreneur or a service provider. Do you spend more time working in your business than on your business? Are you hungry for more time to think, plan, create, and design the strategy for future business growth? Here are three ways to ensure you’re moving toward the freedom you’ve set yourself up for.
1. Preparing yourself emotionally for growth
In his best selling business development book, The eMyth, Michael Gerber states, “Most businesses fail because they are not started by entrepreneurs but are founded by technicians suffering from an entrepreneurial seizure.”
But these skills, experience, and expertise do not make a technician a successful business owner. As Gerber says, “Doing the work of a business has nothing to do with building a business that works.”
Now here you are, in a place where the autonomy you created is the very thing preventing you from getting out of the day-to-day service delivery in your business and fully stepping into your role as CEO.
There is a profound difference between working in the business and working on the business. Stepping into the role of entrepreneur requires tapping into an unshakable confidence in your decision and believing it will be successful. Treading lightly just won’t cut it.
An entrepreneur builds a company that liberates her. The point is not to build a bigger business — it’s about building a better business that has systems, structure, and a team who can provide you with lucrative cash reserves, emotional and spiritual wholeness, and boundless energy to do the things you are most passionate about.
2. Designing systems that support your business
Once you’re emotionally ready to transition into CEO territory, it’s time to get systems in place. As a creative visionary, structure felt like being in jail. I don’t want structure — I want freedom!
As I transitioned from a busy, overworked consultant to a CEO, I learned that systems actually set you free and make the difference between working in the business and working on the business.
Systems are like bumpers in a bowling alley — they make sure everything moves in the right direction. Systems are designed to not only automate and consistently replicate and improve the client experience, but also to ensure that your team and future team members are clear on the way things need to be done.
To get started, document and save detailed instructions on how to carry out a task so that any team member can carry out the task correctly every time. This is not something you want to outsource. The only way to build and systemize a business that does it “your way,” in marriage with your distinct brand, is to not take the shortcut of adopting someone else’s standard operating procedures (SOPs), but instead create your own and maintain them — and this takes time.
3. Becoming the woman you aspire to be
Stepping into the CEO role in your business means eliminating outside influences, insourcing approval, and stepping into the woman who is worthy of abundance and is already enough.
Transitioning into CEO means to love, appreciate, and feel gratitude for the past versions of yourself while letting them take a back seat, and instead leading as if you’ve already become her.
It starts by investing in the skills and practice of leadership, of being truthful about what you are willing to sacrifice in order to experience the abundance of wealth, health, and prosperity as an entrepreneur.
Step into your role as a boss
If you’re ready to make this transition and commit to working on the business instead of in it, jump on a call with me to learn more about our flagship program, the POP Aesthetic Leadership Academy. This business incubator is the one and only aesthetic business development program that helps female leaders in aesthetics and wellness master the five core business milestones to build a deeply satisfying, lucrative, freedom-based business that stands the test of time. In this one-year program you will gain:
- A limitless mindset that allows you to lead yourself and your business with unapologetic ambition
- Clear boundaries to protect your time, energy, and intellectual property
- Mastery of building, leading, and managing a winning team
- A proprietary method that allows you to market your technique as a category of one
- Uniquely branded and marketed customized bundled procedures
- A clear system for nurturing leads from your social media to your bank account
- A simple framework for systematizing your practice
- A defined brand positioning strategy
- Customer journey and SOP creation
- Most valuable buyer messaging
You’ll also be joining a community of badass female CEOs in aesthetic wellness who are making big moves in their business. A group of women who will uplift, energize, and support you as you learn how to become a successful entrepreneur and catapult to your next level.
Schedule a no-pressure call to learn more about this program. Once you apply, we’ll send you a brief questionnaire to tell us more about your stage of business, growth goals to help us prepare for our call. Our goal is to make sure it’s the right fit for both of us. If not, we will guide you in the right direction, so there’s really nothing to lose.