An entrepreneur is not a superhero. As a kid, of course, you think of superheroes as awesome. But when it comes to business? Not really the case. There are definitely highs—energetic periods sending you into that superhero mindset. But they don’t last long. Eventually, you’ll discover you can’t rely on that superhero-like strength forever.
To achieve your goals, you’re going to have to remove the cape. Many of us have tried to be a superhero entrepreneur. Ultimately, we found it too difficult to sustain. We work with our clients. Devise the strategy. Close on the sales. Manage the team. Write emails. Grapple with customer service issues. Put out fires. Spearhead the meetings. And handle the finances.
It gets downright exhausting, and this ultimately leads to burnout; not to mention, it’s the primary reason why numerous entrepreneurs feel absolutely stuck. You don’t want to work more hours or assign yourself more tasks, but your business is tied to you, all your time and effort. Yet in reality, how much of those do you actually have?
So look at it this way, that the ceiling you’re hitting has been created wholly by you.
Sadly, the reality is most businesses fail. Of those that survive, a mere 4% get past that $1 million per year mark. And a very slim 1/10th of that group get past $10 million.
But why is this? Perhaps because so many CEOs never get out of day-to-day operations. Again, they are trying to do way too much on their own and thus can’t work on that which is truly needed for growth.
Can you relate? Are you this type of entrepreneur? You cannot do it all—let us repeat, you need help and in this way, you may even start being a seven-figure CEO. What exactly does a 7 figure CEO do:
- One working on high-leverage activities, not day to day tasks.
- Someone who spends time on growth—not tending to small fires everywhere.
- They solve issues with a system and are not dealing with the same exact problem for months on end.
In order to get to seven figures, you have to figure out what you will own — what are your responsibilities—and it cannot be everything. The harder question—what will you delegate?
What is Your Role as an Entrepreneur?
Everyone on your team, and yes you too, needs to have five role responsibilities. Get these down and then plan on spending at least 80% of your time on your five responsibilities.
Probably looks a lot different from where you’re at now, but to scale faster than ever, this is what you want to shoot for. Ideally, think about how you would spend your time in order to reach those key growth goals as quickly as possible. Therefore, figure out: what are the top responsibilities you need to assign yourself?
These are likely not going to involve small admin tasks, customer service or even project management jobs. In other words, you need to be doing those things that have a significant impact on a big picture level.
For example, the picture might look like this:
- Strategic vision: Determining the overall company vision.
- Putting together a top-notch team: Hiring, leading and running the best team possible.
- Head of growth: Oversee key marketing and growth efforts.
- Building strategic partnerships: Developing relationships with companies and brands for mutually beneficial reasons.
- Asset marketing creation: What types of marketing materials will be used in order to reach a large audience.
How Should You Spend Your Time?
Tasks such as those outlined above should be where the bulk of your time is spent.
Of course, you can assign yourself those tasks that you want to do and like to do. But always remember that growth strategy falls on you. You have to be responsible for those higher-level activities as a CEO.
Some common CEO income-producing activities:
- Develop and continuously work to shape and evolve the strategic vision and direction of the business. You are the north star let’s say and your team needs to see and feel where you’re headed. You are essentially creating a culture and not just a “job” for people.
- Lead growth and your overall strategy to scale.
- Keep in mind you are the spokesperson of the business. Be in charge of marketing.
- Pinpoint those crucial mass sales opportunities.
- Focus on bringing together a world-class team; this means your attention needs to be given to recruiting, onboarding, training and developing.
- Find companies that have similar audiences and form meaningful partnerships. This creates a win-win series of opportunities.
- Manage finances and capital in an effort to drive growth.
- To grow your company, you may think about acquiring other businesses.
- Develop new products and product lines.
You want to be constantly brainstorming what you see as those responsibilities that can ultimately help you to expand your business.
- Think carefully about the best use of your time.
- Consider the key responsibilities you need to adopt to get to where you want to be.
- Do those things that you genuinely enjoy doing.
Create your list, and then cut it down to the top five. Keep in mind, you’re not a superhero; it’s time for you to be a true CEO.
