Stop Wing-ing It: Make Your Business an Asset (Not a Job)

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Hello and welcome to Leadership is Feminine, the podcast. How are you? So we spent the last several weeks doing sort of a deep dive into self worth and self trust. How'd that go? I'm curious. I'm like, I'm curious genuinely. How are you? Did you like it? Did you take the assessment? Did you feel it deeply? I hope so. I am back from the last couple weeks have been really busy. I did my Hawaii retreat and then did some travel for soccer, which is so fun. My daughter's doing so well and her team is doing so well and it's just super fun to watch people that you love have their have success. Right. So I am back and I've been thinking about what we should talk about, you and me. What should be the focus of the next few conversations. And we're coming into a time of year that there's a few things that come up for my clients that are like sort of prescient. One is this is your final quarter, right. Operating your company for most people. Some people don't run calendar year businesses, but most do. And so I know there's things on your mind, there's bonuses. Are you going to give any. A lot of businesses across industries, the industry spectrum, have had some challenges this year. Not that they're not doing well, they're just not doing as well, sort of exponentially well as they have in previous years. Right. Like some years really like flu. Right. You were 30, 40, 50% year over year and, and maybe this year not so much. So first, as you're going into this quarter, I just want to kind of recalibrate for you normaly around success because I think when we have been really used to significant growth, when we don't have huge growth, we make it mean that we're failing. And I think it's very, very critical that you're very, very thoughtful about how you talk to yourself about the performance of your business thus far and that you're also practical. And you look at your quarter and you do the work, you look at your numbers, you look at your, your forecasting and you run your company without all of your personal emotion and needs driving what you focus on. Like really, really look at what the business needs, where the business is, and let's tell the story of the facts of your business and not the story of your brain. Because at the beginning of the year you probably had all sorts of other things you knew or wanted to achieve. And as is always the case, life happens, things happen, people change, people quit, products change, industries change. What it Costs to operate your business has changed. If it's anything like anybody else's business. And I just really want to invite you to not. Not go in a direction that you don't need to go, like, tell yourself the truth. Look at this last quarter. Make a plan and focus. Okay? So that's the first thing. The second thing that starts to come out is those bonuses. And do you pay them? And a lot of people don't pay bonus, unfortunately, based on performance. They pay bonus based on arbitrariness or length of time or when the company hits this number. Everybody gets something. And some years, if you haven't hit the goals that you wanted to hit, it's a little tougher to make that bonus make sense. But if you haven't positioned it in a way that is based on actual production of the individual, it can be challenging. And so what I would invite you is this. I'm recording this on October 6th for you to receive on October 13th. I would make sure if you're a company that has given bonuses, that you are looking at that right now. You're not waiting until the end of November to give that a plan. Okay? So as we think about coming into the end of the year, then we start thinking about what we want to do next year, and what do we need? What do you need as an individual who's operating a business? And then what does the business need in order for the business to succeed and achieve whatever that direction is that you want the business to go? So one of the things that I've spent a lot of time on over the past several months, right, even here in this podcast we did the beyond the CEO episodes, is to really help my clients and you, by extension, be more thoughtful about where you are in the business and where you want this business to go with or without you. Having built a business myself and built, you know, built a space in this world that I'm in, I understand how intoxicating it is to focus on growing, expanding, you know, really, really. That, that, that it's almost like a rush, right, of really looking at that. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. But what I'm finding more and more is, first of all, I think it. I think it could become a little bit of an illness.

And what I mean by that is we get obsessed with the growth and we forget why we're doing it. I had a client say to me not very long ago, you know, when is enough enough? Right? And I don't know the answer to that. And I don't even know if it's a good question, but I think it's an interesting one. What's the point? What are we doing? What is compelling us? And so the, the Sage mini mastermind that I start on November 4th that is designed exclusively for women who are running million dollar plus businesses who are trying to get to this decision, this, this understanding of not just what do you want for the business, what do you need in the team, but what's the point? What are you creating, mama? Why? What's your plan? Where does this go? Does it just keep you busy for 20 years and then you're done? That's okay if that's what you want, make it be that. But I have talked to a lot of people in the last several months and I asked them that question. They don't know. I don't, I don't know. I don't want. I'm not ready to stop working. I don't want to stop. Okay, don't stop working. But what are you building? Aside from you as the asset, your business is the single biggest financial asset you have, especially if you are running over seven figures. You know, if you've been saving for retirement, let's call that. Let's say that, right? You've been saving money for retirement. You've been putting money into your, the SAP or your 401k or your investment, whatever you've been doing, right? We all do different things. You have a plan, right? I'm gonna save that money and then when I'm whatever years old, I will have it, right? I bought this house as an investment and a place to live, and then I'm gonna either sell it when I turn a certain age, or I'm gonna keep it forever and leave it to my kids. Or you have a plan. Even fricking cars. Some people buy cars and they're like, yeah, I'm gonna keep it for two years. I'm gonna get. They don't even buy them, they lease them. Other people, they buy a car, they're like, I make every car count. I pay cash and I keep it for 10 years. You know what? They have a plan. These financial. Well, I wouldn't call a car a financial asset, so that's a little misleading. But we'll still use it because you use your money for it. What is your plan with your company? Do you have one? And if you don't, why? See, I'm not really invested in the fact that you. Whatever your plan is, like, whatever you want that to be, you should have it. You should. You should get clear about it, and you should freaking be empowered and emboldened to get it. What is it? But what I know is the majority of you listening to this. If you do not have a. If you have a business, I know the majority of you don't have a plan. You don't know. You're like, well, I mean, if somebody wants to buy it, I don't think I could sell my business. My business isn't worth anything. I mean, I'll decide in a few years. I don't really know why. Why? The biggest financial asset that you have, why are you leaving that to, like.

Listen, I understand. I am totally there. I. I have just in the last, like, probably 18 months, been like, I wonder what's going to happen here with this business. Oh, wait, maybe I'm in charge. And what's so fantastic about you is once someone helps you know what your options might be, you know how good you are at executing. Do you know how good you are at, like, looking at the little card deck of options? And you pick. Now, here's what's so cool is let's say you look at what those options are and you say, you know what I'm going to do? I am going to sell this business in three years. Okay? Now, you know what we know how to do. We know how to build the business today so it'll be ready. We know the people we need to start to meet, so it'll be ready. We know the data, the facts, the. That we need to know, so it'll be ready. And we need to. And we know what the processes are. We know what the systems are. We know what the assets are within the business that we need to build, so it will be ready. Because I can tell you from the day that you say, I think I'd like to sell this business, it's at least 18 to 24 months. I just had a client who decided to close her business. Great option, if that's what you want, close the business. Okay. She and I were talking about it. I don't know if I've said this on a podcast already. I. I was stunned. So, right. I'm like, I'm not a business coach, right? I am a leader's coach. So there are so many things I don't know either. And I'm like, wait, what? She's like, yeah, it's costing me 200k to close this business.

I'm like, oh, do you have that petty cash?

Right? Who knew? Because turns out when you like Let people go. Because you close the company, you have to deal with unemployment, you or severance or something. You have to. There's. And there's other things. So you can tell I'm passionate about this because all of my work, at the end of the day, love is to embolden and empower you to live the life you want. Seriously, like to prove the power of one thriving woman. Like it's your freaking life. Will you please live it the way you want to live it? But do not close your eyes to this. Please don't close your eyes to this. For all the effort, for all the work, for all the drama, for all the crud you've gone through, through from all the sleepless nights, all the stress, all the things that you have for sure experienced as an entrepreneur. Please do not tell me that you are closing your eyes to. I don't know, let me see what happened.

Right? Don't do that. This is why I'm doing the Sage Mini Mastermind. Because I want you to be ready. I don't care what you want to do. I just want you to be ready to do it. And it could be at the end of 2026 and it couldn't be. And it might not be till 2036. Right. I have some clients who are young. I'm not encouraging them to like close their company or sell it. Although, listen to me. I love a 35 year old who sells her first fricking business and then go start another one. Let's go. Why wouldn't you even using that as an example, I have a client who's do who is building her business and now she just bought property. Guess what she just did. She increased her asset. And I have another client who I know is going to hear me say this. She has a business and she doesn't know if she'll sell or not. But you know what? She does own the building the business is in. So she could not have the business, but. But she owns that real estate. I love when people have a plan. When all else fails, I know this will go. It will, it's going to go this way. So in Sage Mastermind, Mini Mastermind, I'm. I'm really emphasizing this because I know this conversation is not happening across the board in the rooms that women are in. I know this isn't happening unless you happen to be hooked up with a bunch of private equity companies or VCs. So what we're going to talk about and focus on, we're going to do two calls a week. First call I'm going to do sort of a lesson, we're going to focus on a topic and then the second call will be open coaching, open conversation, open advising, sort of working through your thoughts about what we're talking about. And we need to look at four critical things from my perspective when we're talking about this piece. And these are all things that regardless of what your outcome goal is, you must do. And the first one is having a way to assess your business's readiness, your readiness and your team's readiness for you to be able to not be in the day to day of the business. And there's a lot of you right now that I know need this. You need to know. You, you need to know that you can take a two week vacation, a three month vacation, whatever, right? You have to know you've got to get this business ready so that you don't have to be in it every day. Because if you've had this business for five plus years and you are still in the weeds every day, I know that you're frustrated. So how do we do that? We're going to spend a portion of the mini mastermind focused on that. Then we're going to talk about how to move out of being the quote unquote boss and being the advisor, the consultant of a leadership team you put into place. Now when I say team, that could be one person, that could be 12 people. I don't. Everybody's business is different in terms of size. But how do you step out of the decider in chief, the one who's always deciding to a person who is advising those deciders? How do you move yourself into that? Again, your outcome goal doesn't matter, how you are able to exit does. And this is vital. Can we move the business out of you being the one who is always the one everybody comes to to being the one who advises the people who are making those decisions and they're doing so in a way that's aligned with the vision and the values and the expectations of the company. Then we need to know what exit strategies there are, what are the options? So we're going to talk to some people about that because there's lots of them. Turns out there isn't a best one. There are uninformed ones and informed ones. And that, my dear, is the most responsible thing you could do is explore that. Right? And lastly, I want to talk to you about using a mind bank. Building a mind bank. There is a way now with AI and all of the tools that we have for you to start to cultivate not just the processes and the procedures of your company. Right. That's what so many businesses have spent so many years trying to help you learn. And listen, I can do that too. I have all the tools for that. But what I really want is for you to capture your wisdom, your knowing, your spirit, your heart so that as this business evolves within, whether you're in it or not, it does so. And people who work within it can always have a sense of what would insert your name do. What would Chris do here? What would Chris say here? What would she think here? And it's not to replace you, but it's to take this IP that you've cultivated over the years that you've built your company and make it an actual asset in the business that doesn't require your physical presence. And that can be done now. And I want to show you how to build it. We're not going to be able to build it in the 12 weeks that we're together, but I'm going to show you how if you want to. Okay. And so I just know you're not having that conversation. I know that you are head down. I know you are fricking right now. Like I said, just let's finish the fourth quarter. I got a lot on my plate. I get it. I really do. And I should say the sage mini mastermind. We're taking some time off in the middle of over the holiday. So this, this isn't just, you know, you're going to get a break so that you can take your holiday break. We don't actually finish until February because we take some time. But I, I think that you're going to find a couple of things if you've not worked with me before, and that is that the conversations are honest. It's a pretty intimate environment. There's not going to be a ton of people on each of these calls. I would be shocked if there was more than 20 on any call. Given how people's schedules are. Everything's going to be recorded and available to you on a private podcast. Because that's how I find most of my clients anymore prefer to have access to information, not content, but just to listen, to hear and then to distill out what you want to do and then to have live conversations with me and other women. You don't have to figure all this out by yourself. And the women in the room are all women like you. They're all running multimillion dollar businesses, high level performing companies. They're all strivers they all have big goals. They all also might be slightly, in some cases a little exhausted with trying to figure all this stuff out. Maybe a few of you are a little burnt out, but you can't sell your business when you're burnt out. You won't make a good decision. So don't sell from that posture. Don't give up from that posture. Let's reinvigorate a focus, put a timeline on it, put some resources into it so that you find the exit that you want if that's where you are. And if you're just a few years into your business and you're like, yeah, you know what, this is a good idea, I should probably have a plan.

Your plan can change. But all this information that you're going to get and work through with me in that 12 weeks, that won't, that will be so rock solid, powerful for you, right? Imagine if you knew how to assess business readiness. You knew how to move yourself out. There's so much emotion for female founders in their own company that keeps them attached. It doesn't need to be that way. Then how do you actually stand in an advisory role, a consultancy role with your own company? Right. How do you transition out of Queen operator? What are the options? There's so many, we won't even get to them all. But at least to start to your brain like, oh, there's so many different way. There's ways that you can exit that are elegant, that feel beautiful, that feel well thought out, that feel gracious. Right. A lot of women keep their companies going because they feel guilt. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

And lastly, let's take advantage of what technology can do for us now that it couldn't even do a year ago. Let's start to harness you, your voice, your wisdom into the company as an asset. Tell me that's not freaking cool that we can do that. And I know how to help you do that. So we're going to do that. So I'm glad you tuned in. My recommendation, if you are so interested, is to go to the visionary CEO forward slash. Sage M M is so easy. The visionary CEO SageMM. Add your name to the wait list. Registration is going to open. Think we're going to open it sort of mid week. Looking at my calendar, looking at my calendar. We're probably going to open registration midweek around the 22nd, 23rd, 24th ish, somewhere around towards that part of October. So you want to make sure you're on the wait list. So that you get notified. I've already done early registration for clients who expressed interest early. So that's already in the. In the ethers. We did that last week and so we will be. So registration will be closed now and then we'll re register or reopen registration. So registration is currently closed, but we're adding names to our list. And if you would like to receive information when it does reopen, please make sure you put yourself on there. So that's the visionary CEO SageMM. And if you know another woman, because you probably do, who is running a business and the two of you talk on the phone or talk on text about the crazy ass crazy stuff that's happening on a regular basis in your company and she needs a little help too. Why don't you send her this podcast episode and see what she thinks about it. Maybe you guys could do it together. I mean, it's more fun together, right? We certainly go farther when we go together, right? All right, lovey, thanks for tuning in today. Talk to you next time.