040: Are You a Start-Up or a Ramp-Up? And Why It Matters!

Get ready, because everything is about to change. There's a new way of living life and doing business that will blow your mind. This is a podcast all about the timing of life and the timing of success. It's what we call the Right on Time Life. And you are listening to the Right on Time podcast with Amber McHugh. Boy, has a lot changed since the last time we caught up. In fact, the last episode of the Right on Time podcast we recorded, we were actually sitting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. At least I was sitting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Our guest, Dr. Julie Merriman, was sitting in Texas. Now, today, as we record, I am sitting here with you and I'm sitting in Chicago, Illinois now. So we have since relocated temporarily back to the United States while things settle down and things shake out around the world. As you know, I'm not going to dive too much into the circumstances and what they are because I'm sure you are well aware of them at this point. But they will inform what we're doing in our business and they will inform today's content. But before we dive into the modern CEO must do list that is going to be customized for you based on your level of business, I just wanted to catch up and share what's going on over here. So, like I said, I'm now sitting in Chicago, no longer sitting in Africa. We've actually moved twice since we've gotten here. We went to our first place, which was fabulous. But then my husband also came back about a week and a half after we did, and we're like, oh, okay, he needs to quarantine separate from us. So we, we, because we had quarantined almost two full weeks, so we didn't want to mix up our schedules. So we quarantined separate from him. We actually moved into a little bit bigger of a space when he got here, so he would have his own space to quarantine. And so we've been living in two places since we got here. If you may recall, I shared the story before about how in 2018, we moved 15 times that year with eight suitcases. We basically had eight suitcases. That was all we had in our possession that entire year through all of those moves. And I am pretty committed to not move 15 times this year. But the other interesting thing that happened is I was reflecting and we were packing. We did not need eight suitcases either. We returned from Africa to the United States for an eight indefinite period of time, not quite knowing where, when, sort of what's going to shake out because we were scheduled to leave Ethiopia and move to a new location this summer. Anyway, we left with just four suitcases this time and they weren't even full. That was a proud moment because I felt like I had grown in my minimalism abilities and my minimalism skills. Like we are back and forth suitcases and they are not even full. I think I have made progress on some level, on some scale, but I was also very clear on what was too important to us and what we could wait on and what we didn't really need to get through this season. I figured we'd be quarantining and spending a lot of time inside. So I had some comfy clothes and then I was hopeful that it will be warming up soon, even here in Chicago, where it's still a little bit cold day today. And I did pack some summer clothes. So I'm hoping for some summer will be coming soon so that when we can step out of quarantine, we have some warm weather to enjoy. But we are here now, like I said, for an indefinite amount of time. And certainly there is uncertainty in our move plans and where we're going and how long we'll be where, when, you know, all of the things are sort of up in the air. But this is not uncommon for so many of us right now. There are a lot of uncertainties potentially in our businesses, but potentially in our lives, potentially for our family members. So I wanna recognize where you are and I wanna today, in this particular episode, talk about your business, talk about the business side of things and talk about your role as a leader in the business. In our last episode with Dr. Julie Merriman, we talked about stress, overwhelm, burnout and she shared some strategies on how we can navigate times where there may be increased overwhelm, stress and burnout and strategies that we can use for that. So if you haven't listened to that episode, Dr. Julie is just amazing and she shared a number of just very practical, tangible resources that you can implement immediately, very simple things that you can do immediately to start to reground ourselves in this season and now today I want to talk about our businesses and I want us to step into our business realities together. But this is a model the modern CEO must do. List is a framework and a structure that I've been leveraging for quite some time. I've actually mentioned it to you in the past here on the podcast. So this may sound familiar, but we're going to go deeper into it and we're going to break it down even More. So let me start with what is the modern CEO must do list? Well, let me ask you, how many things at any given time are on your to do list? Is it overflowing? Is it seemingly endless? And does it have so much on it that if you put everything on the list and added up the time it would take you to get that done, would it be more than 40 hours a week? Would it be more than 40 hours of work on that to do list right now? If you said yes to those things, you are not alone. In fact, the average person, if you add up what's on a to do list, it's more than 40 hours of work. But I suspect your to do list, if you took everything that's on it, you would likely even have more than 40 hours because your to do list isn't average. As a business owner, with other things going on in your life as well, I suspect your to do list may be even longer. And that's why it's so important that we prioritize on an ongoing basis. And one framework, and one way that you can look at this is using our modern CEO must do list framework. This framework helps us have a model for assessing what do we need to be looking at right now as a business owner and based on our level of business right now, based on the stage or the season our business is in, sometimes we have a tendency to focus on all of the things. Sometimes we have a tendency to focus on things that are four, five, six steps ahead of where we are right now. I refer to that as future tripping. We're worried about those things 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 steps down the road when what we really need to focus on is what is going to have impact now so that we can get to step four, five, six, seven. But it starts with step one. It starts with these incremental steps. But if you think about it day to day, as a business owner, day to day, when you're working on things, what should your priorities be? On the flip side, right, I oftentimes work with business owners who build out a solid how to clone yourself model. They have strong systems in place, they have team members in place who are really taking care of things very powerfully and incredibly. And they're ever so grateful for the systems and the teams, but sometimes they find themselves saying, well, what's my job now? If all of these things are working really well, that means that things come off of your plate and you have increased capacity. You have room in your day to do other things. But what are those Other things. What should you be focusing on now that your responsibilities shift as your business grows and you step further and further into the leadership role? So that's what we're going to break down in the modern CEO must do list framework. It's a bit of a maturity map. It takes the business. We look at the business based on level, from startup to what I call CEO up. The four levels are startup, ramp up, scale up, and CEO up. And in our CEO must do list structure, we help you identify what stage of business are you at, what should your focus be based on your stage of business? What are key mindset shifts you need to make considering your stage of business and that stage of leadership you may be in? What are daily must do list activities you want to start thinking about how can you get some quick wins, what does mastery at each of these levels look like, and what might a next step be for you as you think about these levels? So we're going to break down going through this framework so you can start to really get a sense of all right, based on where I am in business, what do I need to get intentional about and what do I need to focus on? And we're going to break down these areas of focus in those categories that I just mentioned over the next few episodes on the Right On Time podcast. Now, one of the questions that comes to mind for me, and that comes up when I'm speaking with clients and entrepreneurs about this model, is, hey, if I'm at startup or if I'm at ramp up and I move to scale up and I move to CEO up, and I'm going to break down how you might know if you're at what level you're at and how you identify what level you're at. But I have people that ask, can I ever go back down if I make my way to scale up? If I make my way to CEO up, can I go back down to startup or can I go back down to ramp up? And the answer is absolutely yes. I sometimes find myself being at CEO level in my business, but then I go down the stairs to startup level when we start a new project, when we open new cities of our business, when we launch a new product, right? So I'm going to describe these levels for you so that you can identify which level you are at, but know that these aren't levels that you go up and you stay there forever. I think of them more like stairs in that when we go down from CEO up to startup for a special project or a new product that we're launching, we're not going down in a negative sense. We're just going down the stairs and going right back up and we're getting our exercise. It's like leadership exercise, right? We're going up, we're going down, we're making things happen. But what's important is that we're strategic and we're focused about it. We're prioritizing and we're being intentional. We're not just running around in circles, right, going crazy with our hair on fire because we don't know exactly what we're doing and we didn't build a plan for it. No, this is intentional and this is strategic going up and down these stairs. So with that in mind, I'm going to describe these levels to you and I want you to listen in so you can identify which level you are at. And then after that I'm going to share, based on your level, what your main focus should be in your business right now. Okay, here we go. Signs that you might be at the startup level include you have all the ideas, but you feel stuck in action paralysis. You haven't made many or any sales of your offer yet. Maybe you haven't even finished defining what your offer is. Okay, so if startup is, you just make a little mental note. I'm going to be right back to that to help you identify what your main focus is going to be now. Ramp up is our next stage and at the ramp up stage you've actually sold a few offers and you're solid on what you offer and who it's for. But every sale or inquiry feels like a bit of a surprise. You're flying by the seat of your pants to keep up with working in your business and delivering your offers, and you're flying by the seat of your pants to be able to work on your business as well on activities like marketing, admin, strategy, growth, vision, etc. If ramp up is you, make a little note in your head and we'll be back to help you identify what your main focus is may need to be Right now the next level in our CEO must do list and maturity map is the scale up level. At scale up, you have consistent sales of your offer. You're beginning to realize the limitations of your time and you may be starting to think about maximizing or starting to bring on the team so that you can scale. You may have a team member already, but you may not be optimizing them fully or you may want to expand your team so you can continue to scale. You're In a growth phase, you're in a growth season and you're really ready to explode that if scale up is you make a mental note and I'll be back to share the things you might want to think about focusing on. And at the CEO up level, this is our fourth level. You've got a great business and a team you trust to help you run it. But you're starting to question what your role in the business is. Now you find yourself needing to step up as the leader in your business to guide your team so they can buy into your vision, continue to execute, and bring to life all of the reasons you started your business in the first place. If CEO up is you make that mental note now, in this season of drastic change, of rapid change, Right? There's no doubt about it, as business owners and as entrepreneurs, things change anyway, right? But we are in a season where things are kind of changing week to week, day to day. Right now, maybe depending on where you live, they might even be changing more rapidly for some of you as you listen than for others of us. Right? So this is all going to be relative. And if you're at that CEO up level, many of us may have found ourselves moving into startup phase to say, hey, for example, me in my photography business, our team and our photo shoots were completely put on hold because of physical distancing. Right? I'm trying to refer to it as physical distancing versus social distancing because I'm trying to stay very connected to people from a social and a support perspective. Right? To be connected and to help each other out. That's that social side of it. But, yes, we are physically distancing and we cannot take photos right now. It's not an essential business. So we went into startup mode and started to look at things again. All right, do we have any new products that we could offer? How can we shift some things around to create some new offers? So when we're in seasons of change, when there's a market dynamic that comes in, we may start working those stairs, right? So that's why I wanted to share each level with you. And if a couple different ones resonated with you, that's totally normal. But we may primarily find ourselves in one area over another. And over time, we will grow so that we are primarily in. Right, you'll grow into that CEO O up role, depending on your business and how your business is structured. But we're still going to work. We're going to get our exercise, we're going to get our business and Our leadership exercise and we will work these stairs. Now, what should you focus on when you think about your to do list or you think about the things that you should prioritize, or what I refer to as your $100 bills, what should you be focused on according to your level of business? That's what I'm going to go through. Now if you made a mental note and you found yourself at the startup phase, your main focuses at this stage of business growth are on your offer and selling it and you're potentially starting to sell it and starting to market before you feel 100% ready. I'm gonna say that again. You're gonna start to sell and you are gonna start to market before you feel 100% ready. And if this is you, if your offer's not ready, if you're really in the starting phases and you don't even know what your business is yet, but you're starting to mull it over and you're thinking it out, I've got something for you that I wanna share right now and you can find it@ambermchugh.com start and that very simply is a very, very, very foundational business startup program that's going to help you think through what should my business be, what do I want to do, what should my offers be? And it'll orient you to what is marketing versus what is sales? And how can I start to market, spread the word and sell joyfully my products and my services once I make a firm decision around what they are. So again, that's ambermch.com start and that program is available for you and you can pay whatever you want to get it. So check that out if you are firmly in those early startup phases. Now if you made a mental note that you are in the ramp up phase phase. When you are at this stage of business growth, the focus needs to shift to creating a repeatable system for selling and delivering your offer. Now this is one of my favorite things to think about because I'm really good at this. In one of my businesses, our photography business, in the other business, we're really good at it, but only in one unique way. And I'd like to diversify the the way that we do our repeatable selling and delivery of our offer. So I'm still working on parts of this. Right? So as I mentioned, we're going to work those stairs. This is an area where I am working the stairs. Depending on the season, I'll work it more, I'll work it less, depending on the season. So as you're in ramp up, just let me repeat that you're going to shift from sales and now you're going to shift to a repeatable selling system. I want you to easily and repeatably be able to sell and deliver your product and or your services. If you're at that scale up level, you're consistently having sales of your offer and you're beginning to realize the limitations of your time. When you're at this stage of business growth, the focus shifts to building a team so you can start stepping into the role of CEO so you can grow, continue to grow and expand your business. And I don't just mean grow and expand in terms of. Right. It may not be expansion in terms of new cities, it may not be expansion in terms of new products. It could just be increasing how you serve your existing clients with your existing offer. There are a lot of different things that this could look like. In addition, team can look very different for different people. It doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to be hiring employees. So I don't want you to get hung up on terminology here like, oh, nope, I don't want a team, I'm not hiring. Okay, but a team could look different. It could look like a mastermind. It could look like having people around you that help you brainstorm and innovate and think differently about your business. Find capacity so that when seasons in your business come, you're able to pivot and navigate them with ease because you've got people around you to lift you up and elevate you. In fact, I think that's something that's important to have for us at all levels of our business that support that encouragement, especially as we navigate unchartered waters. But this is a time at that scale up level where you really want to make sure that that is in place and you've got that framework around you so that you can continue to elevate and develop your business for sustainable long term growth. Sustainable long term growth. No one hit wonders on our watch. Now. The final level that we shared was the CEO up level. When you're at this stage of business, the focus now shifts to creating space and in your schedule for high level thinking, that visionary work, you're focused on leadership and personal development. You might still be checking in with team members, right? But you've gotta. This is where now we have. We may have a little bit more free time. Air quotes, you cannot all see me if you are listening to this podcast episode right now. But you may have more free time but there is work to be done still from a leadership and a visioning and a growth perspective. So the work now shifts a little bit, the work you do changes and it might feel less like work. So oftentimes I have people that say, I was really good at being a productivity machine. I could crank it out. And now that I don't have to do that anymore, I don't have to be in that hustle state where there's anxiety and I'm producing, producing, producing, producing, go, go, go. And now I can be in this space of leadership and really harness and grow and leverage my strength as a leader. It's hard to shift into that new way of being. It's a new way of being. It's a new way of leading. So that is where your focus is going to shift now. Does that mean you're never going to do anything startup again? No. You still are going to step in. For example, I was just talking about how we're making some shifts in our photography business because we can't actually see people to shoot right now due to physical distancing. So I worked those stairs, I'm back down in startup mode and I wrote a brand new offer, right? So I walk myself right back down there to startup. I still have to operate from a CEO up strategic mindset. And I'm navigating all channels, but I'm being strategic. I'm trying to stay focused and I'm building in strategy as I work these stairs. And that's my invitation to you as you start to shift, how you look at your to do list, how you prioritize the activities that you allow onto your to do list. Let's get strategic, let's prioritize and let's make sure we're focused on the things that are going to have the highest impact in your business. And that's how you're going to reframe your CEO must do list going forward. Because the things that you actually must do, that list is a whole lot shorter than what your to do list likely looks like today. So you're going to reprioritize your to do list with high impact activities. And I've shared some strategies and some reframes for you today as you think about what do I need to focus on based on the season or the level of business I am in right now. And next time, in our next Right On Time episode, we're going to talk about key mindset shifts that you need to make. In fact, as we wrap up and as we sort of lead into and prepare for the next episode. I was listening to someone speak this weekend and he actually said, you know, I don't know why everybody's so excited about mindset, because I don't want our minds to be set on anything. And it was interesting the way that he framed it. He said, concrete set sets and it's hard to move. It's immovable. You don't want your mind to be set. You instead want mind growth. We need to be able as leaders to grow and adapt and evolve and change. And if there ever were a time that were evidence of that need for us as leaders to be able to adapt, that time is surely now. So as we prepare for the next episode, yes, a little bit mindset, but let's shift that and let's start to think about mind growth. So I hope as you moved through this episode with me today, that you had some mind growth opportunities and you thought about some things that, oh, maybe that doesn't need to be on my to do list right now. Maybe that's not the focus right now. Maybe I'm operating and worrying. I'm future tripping a few levels ahead, a few steps ahead of where I am right now. And I want to invite you to bring it back to what matters and what is priority right now. Because when you focus in the present moment on what matters now, you're going to get to your next level and you're going to get to the next step that much faster. And your results and your performance and your business growth will be accelerated by the focus and taking the small steps now because those small steps add up and have big impact. So with that, I want to thank you so much for being here with me on this right on time podcast episode. We'll be back next time where we're going to dive in further to the must do list that you need to operate your business from a CEO perspective. And we're going to go deep into mind where growth opportunities. I will catch you next time. In the meantime, stay safe, stay healthy, have a fabulous week.