Do the leaders on your team think like owners?
Do you need more brain power in the room when it’s time to talk profitability?
If you’re hoping to grow, C-Suite thinkers are critical.
But it’s easier said than done to train that mindset.
Here’s where we come in—and how we helped one client increase profits from 0% to over 10% in less than 9 months by fostering this mentality.
Those Who Do—Can’t Teach?
Owners often have two key skills: the ability to lead people and the ability to manage operations.
While owners might feel their experiences make them the best teachers, their emotional attachment to staff members and traditional processes limits their effectiveness.
So what should you do?
Surround yourself with C-Suite thinkers.
These superheroes appreciate the complementary skills different team members bring to the company, and while they care about the company like an owner would, they are strategic critical thinkers above all else.
Ruffled Feathers
Our client, a ~50 person, $11-million revenue consulting company, came to us for guidance on taking their company to the next level. The team of remote workers struggled with 0% profitability, leaving the business constantly hanging on the next invoice, with no equity line and a sparse pipeline of new business.
Add in a few not-fit hires and a CEO who was leading strategic planning while also running company meetings, handling business development, and more: the consequences were dire.
Everybody was exhausted. Burnt out. Discouraged.
Heads of various departments—HR, marketing, sales, finance—failed to collaborate. This left the CEO stranded with little support from the team’s leaders.
While they all got along and had good intentions, nobody stepped up to take the lead.
And everybody was more concerned about ruffling feathers than making transformational change.
How the Tides Changed
Problem #1: No Culture for Collaboration
Solution #1: New Tool and Meeting with Clear Direction
To turn things around, we introduced an online collaboration board to foster teamwork and clarify roles across the company. We introduced biweekly meetings that included department heads and outsourced strategic providers so that everybody kept an eye on the end goal and felt supported in their work.
During these meetings, we discussed pain points, documented processes and plans, and collaborated on success metrics, ways to improve profitability, and more.
The result?
Just under 9 months later, profitability soared past 10%.
The sales pipeline surged, and the business’s line of equity was approved.
This left the previously strained CEO newly energized, encouraged, and empowered to trust his team and take some much-needed time off with family.
Overall, decisions came faster and worked better than ever before.
Why It Works
Through the board, accountability became less confrontational, and the fully remote team was able to see all the different factors at play in business operations.
The collaboration from department heads spurred new ideas and practical, synergistic solutions.
Plus, the biweekly meetings kept ideas front of mind but allowed the team to make notable progress between meetings, leading to quick and easy wins that motivated the team.
Armed with a team of C-Suite thinkers, the business was back on track for transformational growth.
Will You Be Next?
At My Virtual COO, we help service-based Health, Wealth, and Advocacy business owners optimize talent and systems to accelerate business success by improving the most important parts of the business, including:
- Growth, Profitability, and Impact Projections
- Organizational Design
- Lean Process Design
- Client Experience Documentation
- Productive Collaboration and Change Acceleration
- C-Suite Training
Ready for your own success story? We would love to speak with you.
