This week's guest~

Hey, are you at that place in your business that I call steady but stalled? Come on inside. I'm going to share some tips on how to get off of that plateau and grow from where you are.

It's time for the Becoming a Profitable CEO podcast and it's all about providing you with the tools to succeed on this ever-evolving business-building journey. My mission is to make sure you know you are not alone, that it is possible and that you, yes YOU, CAN do this. You matter, the world is a better place for having you in it, and your voice is needed!

I’m Teresa Cleveland and I believe we can all make a difference and that having a successful online business is one of the best, most effective ways to do that.

Let's get to it!

Hey, thanks so much for tuning in today. It's the fourth full week of 2021. How's it going? I want to check in on your goals, do you have them all mapped out? Are you starting to put your action plan into place or have you already taken the steps to move yourself forward? You're welcome to reach out any time. I'm always happy to help. If you've hit a wall, if you have a question, if you need a resource, feel free to reach out.

You're welcome to come join us in our Facebook community. You can get there by going to ThePurposefulCEO.com/Facebook, reach out any time. I'm happy to help however I can.

All right. This week we're going to talk about what I refer to as steady but stalled. You know what I'm talking about. We've all been there at different times in our business and it doesn't matter whether you've been cruising along for a while now or maybe you gradually reach this milestone, you've got that steady income that's coming in.

You're working with a good number of clients. And it doesn't matter if it's $2k/month, $3500/month, $5k/month, $10k/month, or, whatever that is for you. We all tend to get to that place where it just kind of stalls and we can't figure out what is going on. What is this place that I can't get out of? I call it the dreaded plateau.

First thing's first. Let's just go ahead and celebrate this income bracket that you've made it to, whatever that is. Go ahead and celebrate that. It's worth a pat on the back for sure. Do a happy dance or whatever it is that you do to celebrate when you have reached those goals. And once you've enjoyed that celebration, let's talk about what you need to do to keep your ship in motion.

And side note here, if you haven't yet hit that plateau, today's episode will help you avoid it. How you grow your business from here is crucial to hitting your next income milestone as a coach, course, creator, healer or any other variation of online business owner.

You're an expert in your niche as the CEO and the one responsible for moving this ship forward. You're probably wondering what the heck do I do now? What's my next step? Let's take a look at some of the things that you can put in place if they're not already there. And then we'll get into a couple of other things.

First step is accountability. Lack of accountability is the number one way you're going to break your business. Without accountability things get pushed off further and further and further down the list.

I'm talking about important things. And typically these are either the things that you don't enjoy doing or the things that scare you or maybe don't come as naturally to you. Ironically, those are usually the very things that will move you forward. I highly recommend looking into joining a mastermind, hiring a coach, even having a team member who can hold you accountable to do what you say you're going to do and help you accomplish what you set out to do.

Moving forward, taking those steps that you know seven-figureyou need to take is so vital to sustaining and growing your business. I've seen it repeatedly having worked with CEOs at different levels from startups to seven figure businesses for years now. I've seen it firsthand. Even in my own business, accountability made a tremendous difference in my business and the growth that I've experienced. So, again, find a coach, a mastermind, whatever it takes.

And here's a tip. Don't take the easy way out.

Do not make your accountability person, your sister, your friend, whoever, unless you know that they will absolutely challenge you and push you to show up and be the incredible businesswoman that you are.

One of my favorite clients will just say to me, she'll see the look and she'll say, "Go ahead. That's why I'm working with you. I know you're going to tell me how it is." And we celebrate when it all comes together and she's gotten to the other side of it.

All right. Now let's talk about making data-driven decisions. You've probably noticed a trend. If you spend more than two minutes with me, I'm going to touch on a few things. And one of those things in any stage of business is metrics tracking. Look, I know in and of itself it's not sexy, it's not shiny. It seems unnecessary at times. But if you're going to stop throwing spaghetti at the wall, save your frickin time and get the right shit done in the right order, you're going to have to know what's working and what needs a pivot or a shift or to be thrown out altogether.

Tracking your metrics is your one-way ticket to data-driven, profit-earning decisions every time. So in my opinion, it is sexy. At least what it does for you in your business is extremely sexy AND this plays into your accountability. There is nothing like real-time numbers to let you know exactly how you're doing. Things are either working or they're not. Numbers don't lie.

Let's talk about an organized system next. Systematizing is one of the first real-time steps on the way to full-fledged automation, and it digs into the weeds of your business.

I want you to create a list of all the different categories that your tasks fall into. I want you to think larger scale categories like bookkeeping, marketing, sales, production, customer service.

And then under each one of those categories, I want you to make a list of the tasks that you complete and to the right of those be sure to note how frequently you complete these tasks - daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly annually.

We have different things in our business that occur at different times and getting it out of our head, either into an app on your phone, a word, doc, or even a pad of paper and pencil, just jot those things down. Getting it out of your head helps you see it overall and how it all works together. And when you can see how it all works together, you can see where you can systematize different areas. So having these three things in place will help you tremendously.

So the accountability is going to be what pushes you forward. It won't allow you to fall back because, you know, you're saying it out loud and someone is going to help hold you accountable to the things that you want to achieve.

Your data-driven decisions are going to help guide you. Tracking what's working in your business and what's not will clearly put you on a path forward when you know what's giving you the highest return on investment in your system.

Your organized system is going to help you keep it all together and streamline a lot of those processes.

Now, if I were a betting woman, I'd go all in and say that you don't want to stay where you're at, right? You feel stalled, you'd like to grow or scale from here. So in addition to those areas that I shared that can help sustain your business and help you move forward from there, I'm going to share two things that I have seen over and over and over contribute to helping you get off of that plateau and on to your next goal.

I want to preface this first one by saying that sometimes we need to go backwards in order to go forward. So let's go all the way back to the beginning. I want you to clarify and revisit your mission, vision and values. These three things form the compass that helps you navigate from where you are, keep your eyes set on where you're going, and what you won't compromise to get there.

Here's the deal. If you want to be a purposeful CEO, a profitable CEO, gone are the days of thinking that these three things are elementary business practices that can either be brushed off or lost in a file on your hard drive somewhere.

The high earners and legacy businesses were built because the ladies at the top are clear and aware of their mission, vision and values. I am yet to talk with a successful businesswoman who has not clarified these and keeps them in front of her.

Again, It's your compass. All the opportunities that come your way, you measure them against your mission, vision and values and you'll quickly see whether it's something you should take advantage of or not. In its simplest form, is it moving you closer to or away from your goals? This is the heart of your business and you get to pour yourself into that to create whatever it is that you want to create.

And the second thing that I've seen that helps create more success in business and that forward movement or momentum is when we invest in a coach or program that is specifically designed to help us get from where we are to where we're going. We don't know what we don't know. And I am so grateful for those who have gone before me and those who can help me avoid a lot of the pitfalls along the way.

If you're in that place where you're stuck or you're stalled right now, seeking out the right coach or program can be just what you need. In addition to making sure that your learning style and their coaching style are a good fit, look for someone who will pull back the curtain and show you the tools that are relevant to what you need to make progress every day, every month, every quarter, so that your business gets the jumpstart it needs to run more smoothly and profitably.

The right program will outline and guide you through implementing the practices and processes that you may have overlooked. They'll help you create a personalized plan that is specific to you and your mission, your vision, your values.

I believe one of the best ways to make a difference and build a life of freedom is to have a successful online business - - if you do it correctly.

We opened enrollment for The Profitable CEO Blueprint last week and it's open through the end of this week.

I believe we cover everything you need to set the stage to scale your business just like any other successful businesswoman out there. So if you've hit that plateau, you're stalled, you're stuck, this program is designed for you. I've pulled together all of my experience over the last twelve plus years. I'm going to give you a bird's eye view of your business and then we're going to bring it down to earth with practical application. You're going to map out your quarterly goals and what it takes to accomplish them.

We'll make sure that your back end is set. It's a foundation that's going to support your growth and your goals. There's also community accountability, strategy and so much more, and it's all wrapped up in our eight weeks together. It is so powerful.

If you've been trying to figure out what to do in order to reach your next revenue goal. I've got you. You're invited to check out The Profitable CEO Blueprint. It's an 8-week Strategic Growth Collaborative. And you can find it at ThePurposefulCEO.com/blueprint. And of course, I'll drop that in the show notes as well.

I want to congratulate you on making it to your current revenue threshold. I am thrilled for you. There's no doubt in my mind that you have what it takes to continue to grow. While you don't know what you don't know about getting to that next place, I guarantee you that it is all learnable. If I can do this, so can you. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.

You can find me in our Facebook community, it's at ThePurposefulCEO.com/Facebook and be sure to tune in this Thursday when Tasha Booth of The Launch Guild shares how to hire without the headache.

Until then, let's go make a difference.

Thanks for tuning into this week's business building episode of the Becoming a Profitable CEO podcast. I'll be back next Monday with more strategies, practical applications and best practices. In the meantime, be sure to tune in on Thursdays when I interview other remarkable female business owners who share their insights gained on their path to becoming a profitable CEO. And you're always welcome to join us in our Facebook community to share your take on today's episode, get feedback and network with other female online business owners.

You can find us at ThePurposefulCEO.com/facebook, it will take you right to our community.