Planning Like a CEO (Even If You’re a Team of One)

Grab your seat today - Plan Your Quarter With Confidence

We explore how solopreneurs can shift from constant hustle mode to strategic CEO thinking, even when working as a team of one. By implementing three practical CEO planning habits, you can take back control and lead your business instead of letting it run you.

• Most solopreneurs lack strategy rather than hustle
• Planning like a CEO means creating time to look ahead, using data for decisions, focusing on impact over busyness, and treating your future self well
• Schedule a weekly non-negotiable CEO hour to review KPIs, revenue, content performance, and progress toward goals
• Set a single clear priority each week that truly moves your business forward
• Give yourself space to think about bigger questions regarding your business direction and vision
• Small but powerful habits create sustainable businesses
• Planning is not just for big companies—it's essential for solopreneurs

Take a screenshot of this episode, share it on Instagram, and tag @dr.tonyalawson with your biggest takeaway. Subscribe to catch next week's episode, where I'll walk through my complete weekly planning ritual.

The One Thing by Garry Keller (this is an affiliate link that helps support the podcast)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome back to Plan Like a Boss.
Today, we're talking aboutsomething that will completely
change the way you approach yourbusiness how to plan like a CEO
, even if you're a team of one,because, let's be honest, most
solopreneurs well, we are notlacking in hustle, but what
we're lacking in is a truestrategy.

(00:22):
So if you've been feeling likeyou're doing all the things but
still not making the kind ofprogress you want, this episode,
my friend, is for you.
When you're a solopreneur, it'seasy to spend all your time
inside the day-to-day Clientwork emails, invoicing.

(00:42):
You've got Instagram posts.
You need to fix the brokenlinks on your website, respond
to all the dms, make sure you'reuploading reels, editing your
website at 11 pm for no goodreason because, let's face it,
we've probably all done that.
What I'm saying is you getstuck in the doing, but running

(01:03):
a business isn't just aboutexecuting tasks.
It's about leading yourbusiness, and that's where the
CEO mindset comes in.
Even if you're not managing ateam yet, even if it's just you
in your leggings, with yourlaptop and a messy bun, you are
still the CEO of your business,and that means you need time and

(01:27):
space to think strategically,to set direction in your
business to evaluate what'sworking and what's not, and then
to decide what's going to comenext, because I've got news for
you no one is going to swoop inand do it for you.
So let's get into what thatactually looks like in practice.

(01:56):
When I say plan like a CEO, Imean, first of all, creating
intentional time to look ahead,not just right now, but next
week, next year, five or 10years from now.
What is your business going tobe doing?
If you're not looking ahead,you're going to get lost.
The second thing you need to dois make decisions based on hard
data, not just vibes or what'strending at the moment.

(02:20):
Data doesn't lie and that'swhere you're going to find the
real truth and how your businessis performing, and it's going
to help you make the decisionsyou need to make.
The third thing you need to dois focus on impact, not just
busyness.
You see, we get so caught up inbeing busy.

(02:42):
We feel like as long as we'rebusy, we're making forward
progress, but so many times wejust get stuck on a treadmill.
Being busy and making an impactthat moves you forward are two
very different things.
And then the fourth thing youneed to do to plan like a CEO is
treat your future self likeyour most important team member,

(03:06):
because, at the end of the day,you wouldn't give your best
employee one giant mountain oftasks, day after day after day,
until she gets burned out andquit.
So why are you doing that toyourself Now if you're over
there thinking, whoa, I amfeeling so seen right now?
Here's the thing.
Most solopreneurs are stuck inthis reactive mode.

(03:29):
It's not just you.
You wake up, you check yourphone, you answer a few emails
and suddenly it's 3 pm andyou're like what even happened
today?
I don't even know what Iaccomplished.
Planning like a CEO puts youback in the driver's seat and
running your own businessinstead of your business running

(03:50):
you.
So today I want to give youthree practical ways to shift
into CEO mode, starting thisweek, and the first thing I want
you to do is schedule a weeklyCEO hour.
First thing I want you to do isschedule a weekly CEO hour.
This is a non-negotiable timewhere you step out of the weeds
and work on your business, notin your business.

(04:12):
During this hour, you can lookat your KPIs, and if you don't
know what a KPI is, it standsfor Key Performance Indicator,
and I want you to know you'renot alone.
The very first time this is anembarrassing story.
The very first time I startedworking with a coach, she asked
about my KPIs and I just smiledand nodded and then, as soon as

(04:34):
I got off the call, I got her onGoogle and Googled it to find
out what a KPI actually was.
So I don't want you to be inthat position that I was in Key
performance indicators and thisis basically the report card for
your business what is goingwell and what is not.
I want you to review yourrevenue.
How much money are you making?

(04:54):
Are you actually making moneyor are you in the red?
Look at your contentperformance Now.
When I say your contentperformance Now, when I say your
content performance, I don'tmean your Instagram likes, I
mean your leads, because all thelikes in the world are just
going to make you popular.
They're not going to make youprofitable.

(05:14):
So look at the leads.
How many leads do you havecoming in from your Instagram
content?
That is the content you want tobe recreating, because the
content that gets lots of likesbut not lots of leads is just a
waste of your time.
I want you to check yourprogress towards your quarterly
goals during the CEO hour.

(05:35):
And if you're not setting goalsquarterly, you are missing out.
Annual goals are great, butquarterly planning is how you
break down those annual goalsand gain momentum.
And then I want you to askyourself what's working, what's
draining me and what needs tochange.

(05:57):
Don't be afraid to pivot ifsomething is not working in your
business.
And then, finally, the CEO hourthat you have scheduled.
I want you to protect this timelike it's a client meeting,
because it is just as importantas a client meeting, if not more
important.

(06:17):
Okay, so the second thing that Iwant you to do I want you to
set a single, clear priorityeach and every week, because CEO
energy is focused energy.
Pick one thing that truly movesthe needle and build your week
around it.
There's this book I love calledthe One Thing by Gary Keller.

(06:40):
I will link it in the shownotes and in this book he talks
about most of the things we doevery day.
Don't give us forward momentum,but usually it's just one thing
.
So think about the one thingthat you can do to move the
needle in your business andtackle that one thing this week.

(07:00):
So what is your one thing.
Is it prepping your next launch?
Is it outlining your next offer?
Is it onboarding a new clientwith intention?
Because, here is the honesttruth, not everything on your
to-do list deserves to be urgent.
So what is the one thing you'regoing to do for forward

(07:22):
momentum?
And then the third thing I wantyou to do is give yourself
space to think.
Planning like a CEO isn't justabout spreadsheets and systems.
It's also about vision.
So I want you to take a walk orpull out a notebook, or maybe
just sit with your thoughts for15 to 20 minutes, and during

(07:44):
this time, I want you to askyourself where is my business
headed?
Is it moving in the samedirection it was when I started,
or has it made a pivot?
Is what I'm doing right nowstill aligned with what I
actually want, and what wouldsuccess look like for me six

(08:05):
months from now?
I want you to really thinkabout those things, and some of
them may surprise you.
Maybe the direction yourbusiness is moving in is where
it originally started, butthat's not what you want anymore
.
Things change, and that's okay.
That is how organic growthhappens.
So grab a notebook and journalon these questions, or maybe

(08:29):
make a few voice notes while youspend some time in nature,
whatever gets you into the zone.
This is one of the best thingsyou can do for yourself.
Most people never slow downlong enough to even ask those
questions, but that is what CEOsdo every single week.
Now I know what you might bethinking I don't have time for a

(08:52):
CEO hour, I'm barely keeping up.
But here's the hard truth.
Now I'm 47, soon to be 48, soI'm going to mom you just a
little bit right now.
If you don't make time to planlike a CEO now, you will always
feel like you're behind.
We don't accidentally buildsustainable businesses.

(09:14):
We do it by making space tolead, to decide exactly what
will move us forward, to focuson the exact things that will
make that movement happen andget the momentum swinging in
your direction.
And that starts with building arhythm where planning is the
business.
Planning like a CEO is not justfor big companies, it's for you

(09:39):
.
It starts with small butpowerful habits, that weekly CEO
hour, one clear priority, andthat space and time to really
think.
When you make these shifts, youstop reacting and instead start
leading.
Now, if this episode sparkedsomething for you, I want you to

(10:00):
do two things for me, numberone block off one hour on your
calendar right now, right thisminute.
Call it your CEO hour.
Give it a name and protect itlike it matters, because it does
.
My CEO hour is every Friday at2 pm.
And then the second thing Iwant you to do is I want you to

(10:21):
take a screenshot of thisepisode and share it on
Instagram and tag me atdrtanyalawson.
At drtanyalawson.
Let me know your biggesttakeaway from the episode and
don't forget to hit subscribe soyou don't miss next week's
episode where I'm going to walkyou through my full weekly
planning ritual, from messy tomapped out.

(10:42):
You do not want to miss this.
Thank you for being here.
And remember, just becauseyou're building solo doesn't
mean you have to figure it allout alone.
Until next time.