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Introduction

Welcome to this episode of the Financial and Lifestyle Freedom Podcast. Today I am speaking about how to think like a CEO to grow your business faster. And let's face it, which of us doesn't want great growth in our business? So let's dive into today's episode. 

Why is it important to have a positive mindset in your business?

Arguably, mindset is one of the most important things when you are growing a business, when you are an entrepreneur or a small business owner. If we have a negative mindset in our business, then let's face it, it's unlikely that great things will happen. Now, I'm not saying that a purely, a positive mindset means that you will achieve incredible results, but it is certainly part of the equation. And that is one thing that great successful CEOs certainly do.  They have a positive mindset. 

What are the things that a business owner can do to think and act like a CEO?

So what do you need to do in your day to ensure that you approach it with positivity? Well, for most people, that usually involves potentially tweaking how you begin your day, before you sit down at your desk, perhaps that is going for a walk in nature, perhaps that is listening to something inspiring. But whatever it is, that switches your mindset into a positive one, is going to be a good thing to incorporate into your daily routine.

And the second thing to think about when we think about CEOs and how they think to grow their business faster, is strategy. CEOs are strategic, great CEOs are not just chucking past a wall and hoping some of it sticks. They think strategically about all parts of their business. And yes, they do to things that are trial and error, but that's all done with strategy and the data is reviewed afterwards to work out what has worked and hasn't worked. Most small business owners don't have strategies in all areas of their business.  

A marketing strategy, a sales strategy, a hiring strategy, a finance strategy, operational strategies, all parts of your business, need to be thought of in a strategic way, so that you can think like a successful CEO as well. And thirdly, this follows on from the strategy part, and that is understanding the data in your business and interpreting that, so you know what the data is telling you.  

That data might be your financial profit and loss account, but it could always also be things like leads to your website, or even website hits, what are your leading and lagging indicators in your business that are going to tell you things about your business ahead of time. 

What are some examples of leading and lagging indicators in your business?

So for example, a lagging indicator is the cash that your business has in the bank. That shows you that historically, up till this point, you have done something that has generated cash in the bank. But you'll have indicators in your business that points you in this direction long before the cash actually hits your bank account.

For e-commerce business that might be something like the number of website hits. For a bricks and mortar shop, it might be footfall. And for your business, it may be something completely different. But spending some time working out what your leading indicators are in your business and tracking and monitoring them because they will give you an early indication as to whether things are changing for the better or worse in your business as time passes.

As I said, if you're an e-commerce business, and you look at website hits, and you start to see hits declining, you will know that that is likely to have an impact on the bank account eventually, and therefore you will be able to take action now, to try and mitigate against those movements. It will be the same in your business, they will be things that are leading indicators that you can act on straightaway.

Rather than waiting to see what your profitability is on your profit and loss account or what your cash in the bank is. Developing a way to track and monitor these leading indicators in your business and a strategy for what to do when they change is a key way of thinking like a great CEO to grow your business. So I urge you to adopt some of these things into your small business.

Closing

Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you enjoy the podcast, I would love if you want to leave us a review in whichever podcast player you happen to be listening in. It means so much to me and it helps other people find this podcast and benefit from it, as well. So I please, please, please do leave us a review in your podcast app and also whilst you're in there, do make sure you hit that subscribe button and we'll speak soon.