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Small business owners need CEO Days and I’d go as far as to say small business owners need CEO Days more than big business owners. So if you are a small business owner that rarely gets the time to strategise and plan for your business keep on reading to find out why small business owners need CEO Days.
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What is a CEO Day?
A CEO Day is a day where a business owner focuses purely on the future of their business. They have a block of uninterrupted time to strategise and plan.
Some people will refer to a CEO day as a strategy day or a planning day. And you might have even seen business owners who will travel to somewhere luxurious (like a hotel or spa) to have a CEO away day or retreat.
The name of the day and the location of the day don’t really matter – but the concept does.
The purpose is to have a day of uninterrupted time to work ON your business rather than IN your business.
WHY SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS NEED CEO DAY
1) A small business owner is more than just the CEO of their business
Whereas the CEO of a big business will have the ability to spend all, or at least the majority, of their time in CEO mode, the reality for many small business owners is that they are wearing multiple hats in their business.
I specialise in helping service-based business owners and often in addition to being the CEO of their business they may also responsible for:
- Client Delivery
- Sales
- Marketing
- Administration
- Finances
… and more.
In this situation, most small business owners spend very little time wearing their CEO hat. They spend the majority of their time working in the business (on activities that are essential for keeping the business running on a day-to-day basis) but have very little time to work on their business.
This is why having designated CEO Days is so important for small business owners. A CEO Day can be blocked out in advance and ensure that they do make that essential time to be in CEO mode and plan for the future of their business.
2) Lack of other people in the business at a strategic level
As most small businesses grow they are likely to build via freelancers, contractors and junior members of staff (Virtual Assistant, Social Media Manager etc). This means that the small business owner doesn’t have anyone else in their business to help on a strategic level. Firstly, that means it is vital that they make the time to strategise and plan as they are the only one that is doing it. Secondly, by having a dedicated day the business owner can bring in someone, like myself, to help them strategise and plan.
| TAKE YOUR ANNUAL CEO DAY TO THE NEXT LEVEL BY WORKING WITH ME – BOOK A 2024 STRATEGY DAY
For years I’ve been running CEO Days with small business owners since 2019. Running your CEO Day with someone external from your business and with tons of business and marketing experience and expertise makes a massive difference. I’ll support you to face the facts about your current position, dream big about the future and get really strategic about what you need to do in order to achieve those big business goals. So if you are planning on having a CEO Day to prepare for 2024 and you want to make the day even more productive and useful, book a 2024 Strategy Day. |
3) To maximise resources
A small business owner has limited resources financially and physically. In order to be a small, but mighty, business a small business owner needs to really maximise resources and that doesn’t happen by accident. To maximise your resource you need to plan ahead and that’s one of the reasons why every small business owner needs a CEO Day.
4) For better decision making
In business, you are constantly having to make decisions and some are more important than others, and some need more consideration than others. For those decisions that will make a significant impact on the business you don’t want to try and make that decision between having a client call and responding to emails. Having designated time to refocus on your business strategy and then make decision with that top of mind will help you to make better decisions.
How many CEO Days does a small business owner need per year?
By this point you can hopefully see why every business owner needs a CEO Day, but a question I get asked a lot is “How many CEO Days does a small business owner need per year?”.
On the whole most small business owners don’t spend enough time in CEO mode and so the more CEO Days (and they don’t even need to be full days) you add in the more your business will benefit. However, as a small business owner you have got lots of other things that need to be done so here are my recommendations.
Have an ANNUAL CEO DAY
This is the ultimate CEO Day. If you can take yourself away from your usual workplace or you can hire someone to work with you – this is the time to do it. Dedicate a full day to putting together your strategy for the next year.
AND
Have a QUARTERLY OR MONTHLY CEO DAY
On top of your annual CEO Day I would recommend you set aside time on a quarterly or monthly basis to review your progress and then create a quarterly or monthly plan. If you go the quarterly route set aside half a day. If you go the monthly route set aside 2 to 3 hours.
You can, of course, have an annual, quarterly and monthly CEO session, but by having an annual CEO Day with then a quarterly or monthly session you’ll put your business in a great place.
That’s it. You now know why every business owner needs a CEO Day.
Making time to properly be in CEO mode and strategise and plan for the future of your business is essential. As the CEO of a small business owner you are likely to juggle many hats and that can mean finding the time to be in CEO mode is difficult. By embracing having CEO Days in your business you can set aside specific periods of time to work ON your business rather than IN your business. And once you form the routine, you’ll never look back.
I’m on a mission to help small business owners to have at least one annual CEO Day per year. There are two ways I can help you
DONE-WITH-YOU
Running a CEO Day by yourself can be tricky. You might not have the analytical mind to properly review your finances and marketing data. You might have a money mindset that impacts your approach to pricing. You might not have the knowledge for creating an effective marketing and sales strategy. And you struggle to take your big goals and create a plan to achieve them.
If you think any of those things might hold you back then I can help you. You can book a 2024 with me and I’ll guide you through the process, ensure that you don’t skim over the bits that aren’t your strengths and be the external support to ensure you have strategically thought through everything and have the best plan possible for the year ahead.
To find out more, and to book a 2024 Strategy Day click here.
DO-IT-YOURSELF
If you want to run an annual CEO Day by yourself but aren’t sure how to structure your day this blog post will help – How to structure your annual CEO Day.
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