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From Operator to CEO: How to Stop Working IN Your Business and Start Working ON It · The Boujee Multipreneur

• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to another episode of the Bougie Multipreneur.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Hilary Huschauer.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: If this is your first time listening, then welcome.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've been following along for a while, thank you for coming back.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: This podcast has evolved quite a bit over this past year.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, for a while, I talked about navigating hard seasons of life.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: I talked about resilience, kind of rebuilding things and getting through life's unexpected changes.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: I've had a lot going on.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's all in my past now.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I do like to talk about things going on.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: That way I can bring in some specifics as they related to me.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: So the conversations that I had in the past few episodes were real because I was really living and going through it.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I felt like there's got to be other people that feel that same way.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe you didn't need it at that point, but you might sometime later.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: But today I want to talk about something different.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Not because life subtly is perfect, all the you know, but because I think there's another side of the entrepreneurship that doesn't get talked about enough.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's the transition from simply running a business to actually leading one.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the big difference.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's the moving from an operator to the CEO.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like we've heard about working on your business versus in your business, right?
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if no one, if I it's the if I don't do it, no one else will do it type of mentality, but that's not it.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: You can't keep doing that day after day.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: So if that's how you feel, then this episode's for you.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: When I first started my business, I mean I did everything, right?
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: I answered the phones, I treated my patients, I cleaned, I ordered supplies, I balanced my accounts, I did all the marketing, I interviewed employees, I solved problems.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, I wore like every hat imaginable.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: And at first, that was what I had to do, right?
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure if you own a business, you remember that.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, when you're starting a business, the hustle is part of the journey.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: And you simply don't have the resources to hire someone from for every role in the office, right?
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: When you're first starting out.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: But here's what no one tells you uh the habits that helped you build that business are sometimes the same habits that eventually keep your business from growing.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a hard lesson because as entrepreneurs, we are problem solvers, right?
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's why we're here.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: We love fixing things.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: We're good at jumping in and we're proud of being dependable.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we're proud of the businesses we've created, but somewhere along the way, we become the bottleneck where every decision has to come through us, every approval comes through us, and every question gets directed to us.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Our employees depend on us for everything.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: And eventually our business becomes dependent on us.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: And that's not freedom, that's a job.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: One day I asked myself, hey self, what happens if I'm gone for two weeks, two months, two years, right?
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Would the business continue or would everything stop?
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: And that question changed how I looked at the leadership because if the answer is they need me for everything, then I've built dependence and not leadership.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: The goal isn't to become more indispensable, the goal is to become replaceable in the day-to-day operations so I could be more valuable in the vision.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what a CEO does.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: To me, that's working on the business and not in the business.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I have, I've I've gotten away from the office of working in the business with the patients to actually working on it, making connections for long-term growth.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, here's something that really changed my thinking.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Only I can create the vision of this business, right?
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: But almost everything else, someone else eventually can learn that.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't mean they'll do it exactly like me.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't mean that they'll do it perfectly, because I'm not perfect either.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: It means they'll do it well enough that I can spend my time doing what only I can do.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: And that realization is incredibly freeing.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: I think one of the hardest things for us entrepreneurs is the delegation, because delegation isn't really about trust, it's about control.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: We tell ourselves it's faster if I do it, or they won't do it like I would, or it'll take longer to teach them how to do it.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'll just do it myself, right?
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: I know you listening have thought these things yourself.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes, yes, that's true.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Today, that might be true, but what about next month or next year?
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Every time you refuse to teach someone because it will take too long, you're guaranteeing you'll forever keep doing that task.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Because delegation is an investment, the training's an investment, right?
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a shortcut.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I have taken off a few months recently, again, to be with my kids during this summer break.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I love it.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: I love when my team comes to me and says, we don't really need you here in a loving way.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I think they enjoy saying it to me.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm a little snarky with it, and I love it too.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's very playful.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, oh yeah, yeah.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like we want you here, but you don't need to really be here.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: And it's true, I don't need to do that.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm trying to create is this role of the CEO, not someone that has to grind and hustle every single day for the rest of my life.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: I did that at the beginning.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: I put in my hours and my time.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: But a lesson I've learned is that the systems create the freedom that most business owners don't have like a people problem, it's a systems problem.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: So when employees ask the same questions over and over, it's usually because there isn't a clear process where it might flip-flop in your head and only you have the answer for that time, but maybe it's not always the answer depending on that day.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's if it only exists in your head, then that's not a system, it's a memory.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: And memories leave when people leave.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to document our processes, right?
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: We have to create the checklists, we write out our procedures or we record them, right?
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: We can record training videos of how we want it done.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, the more your business relies on systems, the less it relies on personalities.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: That being said, though, once you create a system, you can't go back and forth because it's confusing.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: So pick the system you want and how you want it done, but then also you have to follow that system.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: You can't have ADD brain all over the place and jumping around.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: You pick the system and you also have to stick with it as the CEO or change it, but you can't change it every week.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um let's talk about calendars because your calendar tells the truth, right?
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: It tells what you actually prioritize.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: So for years, I would say my calendar was completely full of just patient care.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: There wasn't much room to think or plan or create, improve on things.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: There wasn't as much leading, but I was busy.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't necessarily growing, and then eventually I realized if I never scheduled like the CEO time, I'd never become one.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now I intentionally try to protect my time and work on the business, and that's when the marketing happens.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's when my strategic planning, the vision, the reviewing the numbers, because those are the things that fall off really quickly when you're exhausted, right?
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: You can't at 11 p.m.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: at night strategically plan something and check your numbers.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: You can't meet with your team to go over ideas and listen to their concerns.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, you can barely, at least I can barely create new ideas when I'm exhausted from patient care all day.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I give and give, and I want to give 100% to the patients.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: So if I don't feel like I'm giving 100%, then something has to change.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I need to build the systems, but none of those things just happen accidentally.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they happen because I make space and time for them because I know what that is needed.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know, another mind shift, mindset shift, if you will, might be, you know, stop measuring the value by how exhausted you're like, well, I just work so hard.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'm always exhausted.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, entrepreneurs think that burnout is like a badge of honor, but it's not.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Being constantly overwhelmed doesn't mean you're successful.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: It simply means your systems need work.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, your productivity isn't doing more, it's doing what matters most.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like I've heard and I've seen people tell me, well, you you barely work.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because I'm productive at what I do, I don't mess around, you know.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I could get more done in the time it takes you to do it because I have systems.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: I get right into it.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: I know when to do it.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: And like for me, my mornings are my most productive moments.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: So why would I do something at 11 p.m.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: at night when that's not my most productive time?
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I've learned over the years how to be the most productful with my hours in my calendar.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about the your team and your your office, your staff per se.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: But one of the biggest compliments your business can receive is when your team solves the problem without you, right?
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Not because they don't need you, but because you've equipped them.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Leadership isn't having the answers and having to be there all the time, it's helping them develop theirs.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's me trusting my team, it's communicating clearly with them, setting the clear expectations, and yes, allowing the mistakes to happen, you know, because I would make mistakes too.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, they're gonna make mistakes.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's where the confidence gets built.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and if you think about your life, how many mistakes have you made and learned from it and then made it better?
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: So here's one thing I wish someone had taught me earlier is that you don't scale by working harder.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: I used to think that.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: I used to think, you know, like yes, it was a badge of honor to be working 60 plus hours a week and be exhausted.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: And but look at all the money I'm bringing in, and look at how many lives I've touched.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: But this your scale is better if you're just scaling by making better decisions, using your time more wisely, where there's a point where adding more hours isn't the answer, adding the intention is, and that's when like the CEOs look at your numbers.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: You know, this is when we should be asking questions, reviewing marketing, evaluating what's working, and then eliminating what's not working.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Why keep doing it?
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: So CEOs spend less time reacting to something and more time designing, implementing processes, right?
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: So today, and what I'm pushing in my future is you know, asking questions rather than giving answers to my team.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Things like, you know, what's slowing us down?
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about this.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: Where are we wasting time?
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: And this brings me to uh an activity that I've done with my current coaching clients and past, and I've done on myself.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: I like to do this yearly.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's having like four boxes or four squares on your sheet of paper, or maybe it's four pieces of paper, really, and you divide things like what are you doing currently that you are the best at in your office and no one could do any better?
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: What are you doing that you're not good at and someone could do something better?
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: What are you doing that someone else could equally do or better than you?
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then what is it that you're doing that you hate doing, but also no one else can do?
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's looking at those things that show you where things can be delegated and where you might have to suck it up and do something that you don't love doing, but you're the best at doing it.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, for me, that might be payroll.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, I've tried to let and teach other people payroll, and it frustrates me so much.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, not everyone's good with numbers.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: I get it.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: So finding out what you have to do for your business and then delegating some other things.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like in my one chiropractic clinic, I say the other doctors are just as good as I am.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not any better than they are.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: We have our strengths and our weaknesses.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: The thing is, though, I might be better than them at marketing, at communicating with our different like businesses, at creating ideas and implementing things.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: So if I'm better than them at that, then I should keep doing that, right?
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: Even though I love being with the patients.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: But the thing is, the patients are taken care of because someone else is doing just as good a job as I would.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: So think about making your four boxes or four pieces of paper of things like that.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Let me know if you need any help with that.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: I have a template I'd be happy to send.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: But how can we make things in our office easier for our patients or clients?
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what is it that the patients don't like to don't like about it?
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what should we just stop doing altogether?
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: This reminds me of a time where we had like an automatic check-in and the patient had to come in and put their phone number.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: They hated it.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: We thought it would be easy, then our front desk wouldn't have to check in the patient.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: No, they hated it.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: They complained all the time.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know what?
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: We stopped.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: We stopped the automatic check-in.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: They don't like it, even though we thought it was easy, they they got frustrated.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: So, why would we do it then?
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: Just because it's easy for us doesn't mean it's what the practice needs.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: And then where's our biggest opportunity?
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, these questions create growth in your team and help you, you know, improve your vision, help bring them along in your vision.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: So if you are listening today and you feel overwhelmed, I want you to know something.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: You're probably not overwhelmed because you're incapable of it, right?
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: You're overwhelmed because you've outgrown your current systems.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're just not a mom and pop shop anymore.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: And that's good news.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: That means you're growing.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: The solution isn't becoming the best firefighter or the best architect, it's building that business that works.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: So instead of constantly fixing one that doesn't.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: Here's my challenge, if you will, for this week.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: Write down all the tasks you do, the emails, the meetings, you know, and does it absolutely require me?
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: Can someone else do it?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: Or should it even be done anymore?
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: These three questions, you know, does it require me?
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: Can someone else do it?
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: Does it even need to be done anymore?
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: Could really change how your business is.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: These are things that I help my coaching clients.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: They're not all chiropractic owners, most are like service-based businesses because I like to be able to relate very closely to my coaching clients that I work with.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: But what I'd like to leave you with today is that your business deserves a leader, not just another employee.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're still acting like the best employee in your own company, then you'll never have the freedom you started your business to create, right?
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like, why did you start the business?
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: I know I started mine because I don't want to listen to someone else.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to do what someone else tells me to do.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but my goal isn't to do everything, the goal is to build something bigger than yourself.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's what a CEO does.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: And the beautiful thing is, you don't need to become a CEO because your title changes.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: You become the CEO because your thinking changes.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for spending your day with me.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: If this episode encouraged you, I'd love for you to share it with someone else, another entrepreneur, friend that maybe needs to hear it too.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: I make these podcasts intentionally short.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have a short commute, you can listen to it.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: So until next time, remember this success isn't about doing more, it's about becoming more intentional.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: Building the business and the life that you've been called to create.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Dr.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: Hilary Hushauer, and this has been the Bougie Multipreneur.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you next time.