How Smart CEOs Beat Burnout and Scale Faster with Business Systems

Are you a business owner stuck in hustle culture, burnout, overwhelm, or working nonstop with little freedom to show for it?

In this powerful Business and Beyond Feature Friday episode, host Tania Bartolini sits down with Donna Dube, Certified Director of Operations, Business Growth Strategist, and CEO mentor, to uncover how entrepreneurs can use business systems, strategic planning, business operations, and CEO leadership strategies to grow smarter, not harder.

If you're ready to stop operating like an overworked employee and start leading like a confident CEO, this conversation is packed with practical insights, real business strategy, and actionable advice.

In this episode, you'll discover:
How business systems for entrepreneurs reduce stress and increase profit
Why business operations and CEO time management matter more than working longer hours
The hidden cost of hustle culture, overwhelm, and entrepreneur burnout
How strategic planning helps business owners create sustainable business growth
Why saying "no" can actually improve business success and ROI
How to use automation, AI, and business systems to reclaim your time
The difference between growth level tasks vs maintenance tasks in business
How entrepreneurs can make smarter decisions using data, metrics, and ROI tracking
Practical business planning strategies to help you scale without burnout

⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Business Systems and CEO Leadership
00:16 Meet Donna Dube Business Operations Strategist and CEO Mentor
02:04 From ICU Nurse to Business Operations Expert
03:02 Entrepreneur Burnout and the Hustle Culture Trap
05:42 Work Smarter Not Harder Business Advice for CEOs
06:18 Overcoming Overwhelm with Business Systems
08:01 Why Saying No Can Improve Business Success
11:51 ROI, Metrics, and Measuring Business Growth
14:44 Repeatable Business Systems and Automation Strategies
16:33 Growth Level Tasks vs Maintenance Tasks in Business
18:32 Using Numbers and Data to Make Better CEO Decisions
20:44 Business Stages, Scaling, and Strategic Planning
24:42 Stop Comparing Your Business Growth Journey
26:18 12 Month Strategic Planning for Business Owners
27:22 How to Break Big Business Goals into Small Steps
38:02 Business Operations, Teams, and Scaling Strategies
39:53 Donna Dube's Best Advice for Business Owners

Donna shares powerful insights on business systems, business operations, CEO leadership, business automation, strategic business planning, and how successful entrepreneurs can create a profitable business without sacrificing their health, family, or authenticity.

Whether you're an entrepreneur, online business owner, coach, consultant, freelancer, or CEO, this episode will help you build better business systems, improve business operations, strengthen your CEO mindset, and create sustainable business growth strategies.

🎙️ Guest: Donna Dube
🌐 Website: https://ceoamplified.ca

About Tania Bartolini:
Tania Bartolini is a business coach, consultant, former attorney, and entrepreneur with 17+ years of international business law experience. After building, scaling, and successfully selling her law firm, she now helps entrepreneurs create scalable, self-sustaining businesses using strategy, operations, leadership, and mindset.

Connect with Tania:
Website: https://businessandbeyondllc.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BusinessAndBeyondCoaching/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taniabartolini.coach/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tanibartolini1
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taniabartolini/

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Business and Beyonds Feature Friday with your host, Tanya Bardellini. And today's guest is very exciting. Um, her name is Donna Duby. She is passionate about helping business owners go from stressed out to confident CEOs, work smarter, not harder, and rid the hustle and grind culture. All things that are very near and dear to my heart. So this is why I'm excited about this. With several years of experience in project planning and strategic ghost planning with six and seven-figure businesses, she has seen the momentum that can happen in a business when the CEO leverages their time, talent, and tactics. So Donna is a certified director of operations, business go strategist, and host of the CEO Amplified Podcast. She works with established online service-based business owners who are ready to make a bigger impact and maximize their profit. And she truly believes time is the most important asset you can have in your business. Being intentional and purposeful with how you use your time can really propel your business forward. No team, system, or automation can perform a lack of focus. So thank you so much for being here with us, Donna. Thank you, Tanya.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

I'm so happy to be here and have this conversation.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Yes. So I'm really looking forward to hearing what you have to say. Um let's start with tell us a little bit about yourself, your industry, and why you got into this business.

SPEAKER_01 2:11

Yes, yes. So maybe like most of your listeners, my journey to entrepreneurship was not straight and narrow. It was windy and twisty. Um, and so I actually started my career in healthcare. So I was an ICU nurse for a number of years, very different from what I'm doing now. Yes. But again, life brings us different things along the way. So I actually got into working with online businesses because a friend of mine had a business owner and had a project that she wanted some help with. So she said, Can you come in and help me manage this project? And I've always been one to project manage my vacation, my kids, my time, whatever it is, volunteer. I'm always managing little projects. So sure, I can come in and help. And so through that, I ended up getting other referrals and worked as a project manager for a bit with online businesses. And that's when I realized I need to go deeper because so many business owners I worked with, they looked great on the outside. They had their marketing, revenue was coming in. But Tanya, behind the scenes, they were drowning, working 24-7, not sure what the real priorities are. If I just hustle a little bit harder, I just get to this next revenue stage, then everything will calm down. But the truth is it doesn't. You keep going on that hamster wheel until your body tells you you're done. And so I didn't want to see business owners get to that burnout stage. And so that's when I switched and dove more into operations and became a certified director of operations. So I can really look holistically at the business and how do I help that leader get out of the weeds and really lead like the CEO, not the overworked employee that they're currently at.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

And so that is such a great segue because I think a lot of business owners don't realize that there's a better way. Right. I see, I mean, to me, I see a lot of business owners who are proud of the hustle and the overwhelm and the burnout because it shows that they're working so hard. And I think there's a culture that really, you know, puts that forth that hey, if you're a business owner, an entrepreneur, you have to live, breathe, and sleep your business to make it successful. Um, and I think like you, I think it just leads to overwhelm and burnout and 90% of small businesses closing down, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:48

Yes, yes, yes. It's interesting you say that because I was just meeting with a business owner after the weekend. So we had a long weekend. And so it was Tuesday when I was meeting with them. And oh, how was the weekend? Oh, I put in 10 hours on Sunday, like they were proud of it. So I said, Oh, did you have a conference or something special to go to? No, but you just have to keep working. Okay. So then I realized my thought process and theirs are a little bit different. And yes, I did feel for them because at some point they're not going to be able to keep that up. I mean, science tells us our body needs periods of work and periods of rest. Rest, actually, not looking at the computer, doing something completely different, right? Sleeping, walking, talking with our family, you know, going out for dinner, whatever those things are, getting a massage, but we need a break. We can't go like a machine.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

That 100%. I agree. And so this is part of the reason why I have this podcast, right? Because I want to show showcase successful businesses and how we can have successful businesses by doing different things, right? And so tell me a little bit about your business and maybe one or two obstacles that you have had to overcome or even are overcoming now and how you're doing that.

SPEAKER_01 6:18

Yeah, yeah. So for sure, I think a few things I have seen happen in my own business. Um, one is getting stuck in this exact trap that we're talking about. So once I started working as a director of operations, I wanted to really make a big difference in the clients that I was working with and make an impact. And so I gave more than I should have. I stepped over and relaxed boundaries more than I should have. And it got to a point where while I was enjoying the work, I wasn't enjoying the guilt I was feeling. So family and friends were saying, okay, we know you started this business, but where are you? Like you never have time to go for lunch anymore. Sometimes when I'm talking to you, I don't know if you're really there. You're physically there, but you're mentally you're somewhere else. And not really liking those statements, to be honest with you. Um, but that made me realize, okay, I have to take a step back and I have to figure this out differently. Because if I want to grow and get bigger, I'm gonna run out of capacity. I can't keep doing it the way I am. And so that's when I realized that for me, really the issue was a lack of structure, not a lack of effort. Right? And so I had to say, if I'm the leader of this business, what are simple, repeatable operating systems or rhythms that I can put in my business so that decisions become easier and cleaner for me? Work gets lighter. There are certain things I know I say no to, and that's okay. I don't have to say yes to everything because that doesn't fit with my business model, who I am as a person, how I want to show up authentically.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

I want to stop you there just for a second because that is something I want everybody to hear. And I want to know what is the impact on your business for saying no to business, because you know, as a small business owner, we want to make money because we have to pay bills, we have to do things, and so we tend to say yes to everything that walks in the door because we are so scared that we might not have enough money, right? So any money that comes in, anything that we can do, we're gonna say yes to, but you're sitting here going, no. So how do you do that? What was the impact of that on your business?

SPEAKER_01 8:46

Yeah, yeah. So for sure, I've learned there that when I did say yes to everything, sure, the money came in the door, but the after effects were negative. So I was doing things I didn't enjoy, I was showing up in places that weren't me, and I didn't then have space for opportunities that did fit me because I had already said yes to other things. And so if you go in with the mindset that there is enough, there's enough in this world for us, there's no competition. I can say yes to the things that fit who I am and where I want to go, and I can say no to other things, knowing that there's going to be other opportunities that will come my way that are a fit.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

And is that actually what happens?

SPEAKER_01 9:31

Yes, a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

Right? And you're happier, a hundred percent happier.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

Yes, yes, less stress, less pressure, right? So, just to give you an example, I'm not a big social media fan. I like to be behind the scenes with the operations. Um, but there is some pressure out there in our world. You got to be on social media, you got to do lives, you gotta dance on TikTok, etc. Um, and so yes, in the past I have tried doing those things, but it was so difficult for me because that's not who I am. So I wasn't being authentic. It was hard to think of what I am gonna say. The the real or the live was kind of boring because it I wasn't in it, right? And of course, it didn't produce results. So I'm sitting here now saying, right, I can have a successful business and I do have a successful business without doing those things. That doesn't mean it's right for everyone else. Someone else may be the perfect person for doing lives and reels and go to it, right? There'll be other things that I enjoy doing that fit with me that are bringing me a return on investment.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

That's so there's different ways of doing the same thing that you have to find what aligns with you, what makes you comfortable and allows you to be authentic. So I love that message that you just gave us because I think it really needs to be disseminated. And I hope all the listeners take this to heart. You don't have to be like your counterpart or like the next person, right? It's you have to align with who you are. Yes, you have to do some marketing because otherwise nobody's gonna know what you do, right? But there are so many different avenues, there are so many different things um that you could just find the ones that work for you that you're comfortable with, that you can be a little uncomfortable so you can grow and learn, right? Um, so thank you for that. I love that you said that. So I'm sorry, you were saying that you were getting overwhelmed, you started saying no to the things that don't work for you or you didn't quite enjoy, and what else before it's and then more opportunities that I do enjoy and that fit with me come my way, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:56

And I have also noticed that sometimes an opportunity will come your way. You think it's a good fit, you go ahead, you do it, but you might not see a return on investment from that. So that's the other side is that you have to always be looking at, okay, I've put this strategy in place. I've done it for three or six months. Now, what is the data showing me? What is the metric showing me? Because it might be something you enjoy, but then you know, it's not fit for your audience or whatever, and it's not giving you that return. You have to really analyze is this worth continuing doing if I'm not seeing that return on investment? And how you do that is by looking at the numbers.

SPEAKER_00 12:33

Ah, another great golden nugget for business owners metrics, right? Look at the numbers, make sure you have the data to begin with to be able to look at it. It's what is it? You can't fix that which you do not measure, or you cannot improve that which you cannot measure, right? And so I love that you say that. I always tell people, even with your networking, right? If you enjoy going to a networking group, that's great. But is it social hour or is it actually giving you a return on your investment with the business? You know, and it's not about stop doing it if it's not giving you a return, but it's about doing it, as you said in your introduction, with intention and purpose. You know, so if you know that this is going to be social hour and you want to do it anyways, grow, go have fun. But don't kid yourself and say this is business when it's not giving you a return. And the only way to know that is to measure and make sure you have data points.

SPEAKER_01 13:41

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

So that is fantastic. Are you still having? I mean, you learn how to do these things and you learn how to measure your return on investment. Are you continually doing that throughout, or did you just do it once and you're like, okay, this is what works, and I'm good?

SPEAKER_01 14:00

No, unfortunately, it's not that easy. So we will find that economy changes, buying habits change, and as your business evolves, who you work with and who your ideal client changes, what you want to do, and your offers, those pivot as well. So this is something that's continually going on. It's a continuing, you know, something that I'm assessing all the time because as I grow, I find new ways I want to help my clients. I up level two different clients, and they too are growing a business, right? So, no, it's not a one and done, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_00 14:40

Well, and but another thing that you had said that I really wanted to also highlight for the audience is what are the things that are repeatable in your business? So, can you expand a little bit on that?

SPEAKER_01 14:55

Yes, yes. So, just to give you more examples of this, most of us will send out invoices. Most of us have bookkeeping to do. So, if you are a solopreneur and you don't have a bookkeeper or an assistant or something that's helping you with those things, those are repeatable processes. Now you might say, but hold on, Donna. I have, you know, many offers and I tweak them a little bit, depending on what people need. That's fine. We want to look at what stays the same each time you send out an invoice and a contract and get a client onboarded. And how can we make that as automated as possible, but still have the human touch. So there might be three steps in that 12-step process that you still need to do, and that's perfectly fine. But let's set up so that we know each time we're sending out an invoice or a contract, this is how it's going to work. There's no thinking involved. It's already laid out exactly the steps. And then we look at what tools do you already have in your business that can help you automate some of those pieces. So you're doing less of the process. So that's an example.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

Thank you. And that's the key because, and I'm so glad you gave that example. A lot of people think that no, if there's any portion of it that I have to do, that means I have to do it all. Right? What's the point of having someone do part of it and then have me do it and then have it go back to them? And isn't that a lot more time consuming?

SPEAKER_01 16:29

Well, I would argue not necessarily. So the way I look at it is as leader, as CEO of your business, the amount of time that you have to spend on your business, you want the most of that on what I call growth level tasks. Things that I just said, like invoicing, bookkeeping, social media, you know, tweaks to your website, sending out emails, those are maintenance tasks. Do they have to happen? Yes, 100% they have to happen. But we always have to be questioning do they have to be done by you? Because those growth level tasks, that's where you're going to see the real growth in your business. Things like getting in front of other people's audiences, teaching, podcast guesting, sales, if you're still doing sales in your business, JV partnerships, networking, and of course your client delivery. That's areas where you're not going to outsource that to AI, to a person, to an automation, right? That's something that you need to do. So if we take this podcast, for example, Tanya's got systems behind the scenes so that I know what day to show up. But when I come, she's here, she's prepared. But she didn't have to touch every piece of that process. She needs to be thinking like the leader saying, What specifically do I need to do? And what can I pass off? Whether that's automating or delegating. The reason why this is so important is because we have to look at our time and the money that's being spent for our time. So if you as leader take the hourly rate that you would charge a client, and you say, okay, I'm just gonna go into Canva and fix up a few images. Next thing you know, you're there two, three hours later at your hourly rate rather than your assistant's hourly rate, which is hopefully much lower, right? So bring it back to the math and say, okay, if I'm gonna be working, I have to be doing those highest level tasks.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

Love that. Bring it back to the math, bring it back to the math, right? We always we're emotional beings, right? And we run on emotions, and sometimes we feel like we're doing such a great job, and sometimes we feel like we're not spending so much time on something, but then when we put it and actually look at the numbers, that gives us the objective view of what it is, right? Like, yes, and I ask people all the time like, do you have these weeks where you feel like you are so productive, but you have no money to show for it? Right, right, or you have those weeks where you feel like you were so lazy and you hardly did anything, but then you have all this money to show for it. Where did that come from? Right because our feelings are not the reality, yeah. Yeah, right. The numbers can give you the reality and give you the true story, and I love that you put that in perspective because the hourly rate of the owner is always going to be higher than the hourly rate of anybody else that works there, right? I should hope so, otherwise, you don't have a business, yes, and so like one of the things I tell people is get a bookkeeper right because it might take a bookkeeper one hour a week because that's what they do all the time. They are an expert in these things, and you're paying them one hour, whereas it'll take you three, four, five hours a week, and now you've lost four hours of your time, right? Which is cheaper, which makes more financial sense, right? So I love that you brought that. Look at the numbers and look at the bottom line finances. Um, amazing. Thank you. So is there anything else you want to share about obstacles, or do you want to go to what's working in your business?

SPEAKER_01 20:47

Yes, I would say definitely in terms of obstacles. Uh we touched on a little bit, but just keeping those blinders on and really focusing on where am I right now in the stage of business I'm in right now. So whether I'm just starting, whether I've just done a big pivot, and so I'm changing my audience, changing my offers, or whether I'm in a growth stage where I'm really trying to ramp things up, or I'm in a let me settle this down, build my systems and get my structure right before I ramp up. So each of those matters and the things you do in each of those stages make a difference. So let me give you an example. There is a lot of education and people selling, do a webinar, bring people into your audience through a webinar and sell on the back end of the webinar. And that works for some people, depending on the stage of business they're at. But you need to be able to know clearly what your offer is. It needs to have been already sold to others. So you know these are the results people get. And you need to have something in your webinar that's going to attract people. So that takes some effort to figure that out. If you're in a stage where you're still building your audience, And you don't have an audience, it's going to be hard to get enough people in that webinar to make it give you a return on investment. Right. And so you might be better at doing one-on-one calls and actually meeting a business owner, seeing where they're at, and offering them and inviting them to work with you with what you've got rather than, you know, a big webinar. So that's just a little example, but each stage has its own things that you should be focusing on. And so something might sound great, but if you're not where that business owner is in terms of your growth, hold on to that idea until you get there.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

And that's a great way to put it as well, because you know, we're always told don't compare, don't compare. Everybody has their own time, but we do anyways. Right. It's just we can't help it.

unknown 22:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

Um, and so that's one thing that is great that you brought up. You can look at where the other business owner is, in the sense comparing to see where you are and whether or not what they're doing is going to work based on where the two of you are. Not to compare for I should or shouldn't or you know whatever, but as market research.

SPEAKER_01 23:21

Yes. Right.

SPEAKER_00 23:23

To see am I at that stage in my business where marketing through webinars is going to work and be beneficial for me or not? Right. And even if it is, you had said previously, if it's not something you're comfortable doing, you know, and it's something that you really dislike, then find something else, right? If you're not comfortable doing, and I just want to like clarify this: if you're not comfortable doing something because it's new, Donna and I are not saying don't do it. Right? If it's new, you're gonna be uncomfortable doing it. It's something you have to learn, right? But if it's something you absolutely do not like, it's just every time you think about it, you get a knot in your stomach. Either hire someone to do it for you, right? By automating it, by giving them systems, or find something else that's gonna work that doesn't give you those knots in your stomach. You know, but yes, being uncomfortable is normal in business. You have to be uncomfortable in order to grow because that means you need to learn new skills, you need to learn something that you don't know yet, right?

SPEAKER_01 24:42

Yeah, yeah. I remember I had a client who came to me and she said, Well, we're not growing fast enough. So when we dug into her business, really what was happening was she had what I call comparitis. So she was comparing to another business owner who, you know, if you look at it that way, was a competitor, but I believe in collaboration, not competitiveness. So that's another story. Um, but this business was much farther ahead. They brought in a lot more revenue, they had a much bigger team, their audience was much bigger, and so there's things that they could do much faster and get out into the world than her business could, right? So again, we have to look at where we are, where's the capacity for you and your team, and what audience do you have? All those pieces have to come together to make it work.

SPEAKER_00 25:31

That yes. And so let's go back to what is actually working in your business and how did you get it to work, right? Because we all have obstacles, and as a business owner, we're always gonna have obstacles, right? Every stepping stone that you take brings new opportunities and new, you know, challenges and new things. But like you said earlier, you can make things work and put them on autopilot, at least for a while, right? You can't just you know set it and forget it, but you can set it and come back to it every once in a while to make sure it's still working. So, what are some things that are working in your business?

SPEAKER_01 26:18

Yes. So I would say a couple of things behind the scenes that are really working, and one is being strategic. So I like to plan, it's not everybody's forte, but even if it isn't your forte, you have to be able to look ahead as business owner and see where you want to go, right? So imagine you're in a boat, you've got oars, you're rowing, but you don't know where the destination is. It's very difficult to reach that goal if you don't know where it is. So I like to do 12-month planning. So look at the whole year and say, okay, where do I want to improve? What areas do I really want to touch on? And I go much deeper than just I want to bring in this amount of revenue. That's a good goal to have, but underneath that, what steps do I have to take to actually make that happen? What offers do I need to have? What clients do I need to sell them to? How many clients would I need on what kind of project or retainer basis, like actually working out that math so that I know what steps I have to take to get there? And then once I've got my 12-month plan, then I like to take that and break it down. So, you know, there's a saying that you have to eat the frog first. Um, and basically I like to take that 12-month thing. Okay, let's say one of my goals is I want to start a podcast. Well, that sounds big and overwhelming if I haven't done it before, right? So I take that big goal and say, okay, what are some things that I need to do first? Well, I'd kind of need to decide who my audience would be, what I'm gonna talk about, what the artwork would be, what my name would be, how often I would put it out, those logistical things. And then I need a system for how I would record and put content out there consistently. Am I gonna have guests? Am I gonna do solo podcasts? It's gonna be once a week, once a month. What's that gonna look like? And so breaking that big goal down into smaller goals and even smaller goals until I have a 30-day plan. Got a 30-day plan, it's got a couple of goals, I mean a couple of steps for me to reach my goals for that 90 days, and then that helps me know exactly what I need to do each and every week. Does it mean I follow it 100%? No, absolutely not, because life happens, things happen, right? Sometimes I put more things on there that I can actually accomplish. Um, but it gives me guidance, it gives me a roadmap to follow. So I know, okay, this week, yes, I've got this big goal, I want that podcast, but this week I just have to focus on who do I want to speak to?

unknown 28:55

Right?

SPEAKER_01 28:55

Who's my audience for this podcast? That's my task this week. So once I've got those smaller tasks, it makes it a lot easier for me as leader of my business to really focus on those things and not be reacting and firefighting.

SPEAKER_00 29:11

That I love that. And there were so many different nuggets in there that you just gave us, right? One is goal setting and goal achieving are two totally separate things, right? Because you can set a goal, but if you don't have a plan on how to achieve it, you will never get there. You know, that's like, oh, I want to go to whatever store and I get in my car and start driving. But if I don't have a plan of what roads am I gonna take and where am I gonna, I may never get there, right? I mean, thankfully we all have GPSs, but that is the plan, you know, the GPS gives you the plan. Whereas in your business, you have to make your own plan, um, even in your personal life, right? And that's one thing I just want to compare very quickly so people can really grasp this is you want to lose weight, for example, right? And you say, okay, I want to lose 20 pounds, but I'm gonna start, you know, going to the gym and I'm gonna eat healthy and I'm gonna drink more water and I'm gonna do this. And then you start all of it, and within a couple of days, you're so overwhelmed, and you just quit and you're like, forget it, I'm not gonna lose weight. Whereas what you're saying is don't go full force into let's get this done and get overwhelmed. Make a long-term plan, break it down into little pieces, like, oh, this first week, I'm just gonna drink extra water. You know what? Next week, I'm gonna eat extra vegetables. Yes, I might go to the gym once a week, right? The week after that, I'll go twice. And you build on it so that the steps that you're doing don't seem overwhelming in so much. They're one or two little things that you can easily fit into your schedule, you can easily get done, and before you know it, you get that momentum. You've achieved your goal. Yeah. Right. So this is such a great way of not just setting goals, but actually achieving them. Um that there's no other.

SPEAKER_01 31:43

Or when things have changed in our life or our business, and we have to pivot and make some changes because sometimes we set something in January, but by July, things are a little different. We may have to change that goal. So by you know, reviewing them and staying on top of them, tiny habits, it helps us get to the end.

SPEAKER_00 32:05

That yes, I'm I'm a huge fan of planning and measuring, as you can tell. Right, because that's the only way that you can truly get to where you need to get to in the most efficient way as well. And it is the only way where you can see very quickly when you have to pivot, what's not working, because you're continuously watching it, yeah, right? We're continuously measuring those small steps rather than that big overwhelming picture. Um so strategies, planning, love it. What else is working in your business?

SPEAKER_01 32:47

Yes. I would say the other thing is how should I say, waiting, willing, willing to wait. So again, just an example. Um, let's say you're running a business and you hear Pinterest is a good strategy you'd like to implement, but you don't know a thing about making pins and how to post and what the strategy is behind all of that. And so you decide, okay, I'm gonna go out and ask a few business owners, do they do Pinterest themselves or do they hire someone? Well, maybe they hire someone, so you talk to a few Pinterest managers, find out what the budget's gonna be. That's a little bit more than you can afford right now. So then you need to make the decision am I going to put Pinterest on wait until I have another client or two and I can afford to pay someone to help me with this? Or am I going to use my CEO leadership time to dig into the nuts and bolts of Pinterest so that I can do it myself? And nine times out of 10, waiting until you have the budget to be able to get someone to help you do that is better than digging into yourself because it becomes a big rabbit hole. And again, you're spending your time and money on something that isn't the biggest return.

SPEAKER_00 34:04

100%. And you know, I can very much relate because I want everything yesterday. Yeah, right. Like I do, I want everything yesterday, and so it's very hard for me to say, no, I'm gonna wait on anything, but it really does make a huge difference, right? Because just like playing, and that's what you're doing when you're waiting is planning, right? You're planning a better path, an easier way that is likely gonna get you there much more quickly as well, yeah. Right. Because if with your example, I only need one or two more clients to be able to afford it, now I can use my time with my strength of getting clients, right? Rather than use my time for my weaknesses and trying to, you know, learn a skill that I don't even need or care about, or right, that I can pay someone much less than what my hourly rate is to do it for me.

SPEAKER_01 35:24

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And you don't even know at this point, you haven't started the strategy, is it actually viable? Like, will it work for your business? You don't know. There's sometimes you know a risk we have to take there, right? To try it out to know. Um, and so yes, to use all your time and not be your strength towards that, and then decide a month in, oh no, this isn't working. You're probably giving up too soon to really know. So, yeah, definitely worth it to wait until you can have someone help you do it. That's what I have for sure found.

SPEAKER_00 35:57

That I love to use so many business nuggets, so many golden nuggets here today. Um, so what else is working in your business? What else have you been able to kind of keep going and help you be successful?

SPEAKER_01 36:13

Yes, yes. Well, for sure I have, you know, brought in some AI and some automation, um, like most of us have. So what I find it really helps me with is okay, I've got this. I want to make it a simple process. How do I get from A to B? Here's the tools I have. How do I get from A to B the easiest? And so it's been able to help me sort of figure out well, you could do this, do that, do this. Okay, I don't have that. Okay, how much is that gonna cost a month? Those types of things, rather than me sit there and scratch my head saying, Well, does that communicate with this? Or does this tool have that? So that's been really helpful. Um, the other piece is again just automating different pieces of a process that don't need my human touch and reminding myself that right, it only takes two minutes or five minutes to do that thing. But if I do that thing once a week, every month, all year, and next year or two, that's a lot of my time, right? That I shouldn't be putting towards that thing. So once I automate it, I can forget about it for the most part. And I can now focus on those growth level tasks. So really looking at little pieces I can automate and where can I use AI to help me sort of see the whole picture.

SPEAKER_00 37:35

And you know, once you start automating those little things, it's not just the one thing that you do that's only a couple of minutes a week, right? It's those many little things that you can do. And you know, I've seen people get back like 10 hours a week of their time by doing things like this, and so you help people with operations, with getting on track with those types of things.

SPEAKER_01 38:03

Is that yes? So that's a piece of it, Tanya. Um, really, it's that strategic planning. So figuring out what are our goals for the next 90 days and how are we going to get there? Do we have a team? No, yes. Do if we do have a team, are they in the right seats and are they, you know, capable and have capacity to do what we want to do? Um, and then beyond that, if we don't have a team, then where can we make things simpler, right? Where can we focus and be intentional so that we are getting the best return on investment? So sometimes that looks like strategizing on different tools or different automations we can use. Sometimes that looks like making a job description and hiring, right? Sometimes that looks like having that conversation with the team and you know, shifting and redesigning the organization so that it can grow to the next level.

SPEAKER_00 38:54

But you mean there's no like one size fits all template for everybody?

SPEAKER_01 38:59

Unfortunately not. Maybe that's a fortune.

SPEAKER_00 39:03

Otherwise, what would I be doing? I think it's fortunately because can you say this everything was the same? How boring would that be?

SPEAKER_01 39:13

Oh, it would be, wouldn't it? Yes, yes, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 39:17

So if someone wanted to work with you or get in touch with you, how would they do that?

SPEAKER_01 39:23

Yeah. So the easiest way is to go to my website, which is CEOamplified.ca. And when they go there, there are a couple of resources there if they're interested in downloading. One is a private podcast, which has about seven episodes, really helping CEOs get over the weeds and lead their business like they should be.

SPEAKER_00 39:43

Nice. And so if you missed that, don't worry. It will be in the comments and it will be posted on the end as usual. Um, before I let you go though, if you had one piece of advice to give to business owners to help them become successful or continue to be successful, what would that be?

SPEAKER_01 40:05

Yes. So there's a quote by James Clear that has always stuck out in my mind. Uh, I won't have it exact, I'll just paraphrase it. But he says, people think there's not enough time. There's more than enough time, but there isn't enough focus with the time we have. So I truly believe that as leader of your business, you have to constantly be on top of how am I using my time? And it's a learning process. It's not that you're going to be perfect next week, but review your week, like you were saying earlier, Tanya, like review your week. Well, I didn't feel productive this week, but what did I actually get done? Right? Okay, I did this and this. Sure, those were growth level tasks. Those things, not so much. What can I do to tweak and adjust for next week? So if I'm 1% better next week than I am this week, I'm gold.

SPEAKER_00 40:58

That is a hundred percent true. Always strive to be a little bit better every day, and the only way you could do that is by looking at what you've done, analyzing it, right? Being aware and measuring. And so I love that. Thank you so much, Donna, for being here today. This has been invaluable. Um, and I hope you guys enjoyed it. We will see you next time. Bye.